Lower Birth
by Galacticexplorer12
Summary: <html><head></head>A figure emerged from the shadows. It walked on four long legs- its forelegs longer than its hind. It had a long, whip-like tail, and a long, slender neck. Its raisin-colored scales were small and smooth, like a snake's. And it had blades running up its forelegs. It stood at a whopping eight feet tall. It towered over little Mai, and yet, Mai felt no fear. She didn't need to.</html>
1. Chapter 1

The building was just up ahead, and he wouldn't have to endure this cold for much longer. Damn Japanese winters at five in the morning. He had parked his car in the parking lot and started toward the building. He hugged his coat just a little tighter as he approached.

Click!

He stopped. That click came from right behind his head. Before he could turn around, a voice sounded.

"I have a gun. Get in the van."

And just on cue, a van pulled up. Something whooshed behind him, and he felt heat. Somebody was twirling a baton that was currently on fire, and they were twirling it literally right behind him. Another click sounded. It was the driver of the van. He was wearing a ski mask (cliché but effective), and he was holding a gun at him, too. He returned to a state of calm from his panic and looked the masked man straight in the eye.

_They need me alive- if they didn't, they'd have killed me already,_ he thought. He moved toward the van, only to bolt for it a second later. He stopped dead in his tracks and pitched forward as he felt the unmistakable twist of a knife in his stomach. There was now a third man in front of him, still holding onto the knife.

The woman who first held him at gunpoint walked over. He immediately began to fight through the pain and shoved the third man away. He cradled his wound but he did not remove the knife, since it was probably the only thing keeping him from bleeding out. And then a gun careened into his head. He fell forward and turned on his side in effort to keep from falling on the knife. In his dazed state, he was vaguely aware of his hands being duct taped behind his back. They also duct taped his legs. The one that stabbed him picked him up and dragged him over to the van. He wrenched out the knife, eliciting a whimper, before throwing him in the back. The woman got into the back with him, undoing his coat, jacket, and shirt, before tending to his wound. That was the last thing he saw before passing out.

**.o0o.**

Mai sat at her desk, listening to the analog clock on the wall tick loudly away. However, Mai wasn't slacking off. She had been working all day- the boring paperwork that's never documented because it's so boring. But now, she was waiting… waiting for just the right moment. 3… 2… 1… The clock struck noon, and the teakettle whistled, and the voice from the office yelled, "Mai, tea!" Right on time. And Mai was ready this time. She knew the kettle like the back of her hand. She poured the tea and moved into her boss's room. She placed it down and turned around, not even waiting for a response. She knew she wouldn't get one–

"Mai, send Lin in on your way out."

…

Well, it was a start.

"Yes sir, mister boss-man," Mai said with a mock salute, but Naru didn't catch it; his face was behind his binder again. She let out a not-so-subtle groan before slinking out of his bat-cave of a workspace before moving over to Lin's. She knocked. When she didn't get a response, she turned the handle. The handle wouldn't budge. Damn. At least Lin had the ability to be nice to her (after they settled their differences over the Urado case), but today just didn't seem to be her day. Mai, defeated, walked back to her boss' office.

"Lin has his door locked and he won't answer."

Naru rolled his eyes and got out of the chair, saying nothing as he brushed passed Mai. Mai didn't need words to know he was ticked. Lin rarely locked his door, but when he did, nobody was to expect more than two words from him that entire week. She heard Naru banging on the man's door before giving up for the umpteenth time that morning. She returned to her desk and sat down. She looked for something- anything to do, but their workload had been run bone dry. They hadn't had a case in a while now. Although Mai was genre-savvy enough to know by now that thinking those things would only mean trouble for all of them.

She settled for putting her head down on the desk, nestled in her arms. Of course she drifted off to sleep. What else?

_The air around her was thick and wavy. Little lights were floating around her. She was on the spiritual plane. A figure emerged from the shadows. It walked on four, long legs- its forelegs longer than its hind. It had a long, whip-like tail, and a long, slender neck. Its raisin-colored scales were small and smooth, like a snake's. And it had blades running up its forelegs. It stood at a whopping eight feet tall. It towered over little Mai, and yet, Mai felt no fear. She didn't need to._

"_Hi Jack."_

_The figure nodded at her. She lifted her hands, and the creature lowered its reptilian muzzle into her soft palms. She stroked the being's face, looking into its beady eyes._ It extended its back-facing antennae towards her face. She laughed as the thin instruments tickled her cheek.__

"_Don't do that, Jack! That tickles!" she giggled. 'Jack' nudged her, and she responded by stroking him again. A light flashed from behind the creature. Both pairs of eyes snapped to it. Another form started to take shape. _Naru_, Mai thought. _Gene.

"_What are you doing here?" she asked, stepping past Jack._

_Gene stepped forward and extended his palm toward Jack. The lizard-creature hissed at his outstretched limb. Gene pulled his hand back and chuckled. "I suppose we have yet to get to know each other, eh big guy?"_

_Jack hissed again, only this time, opening his mouth to reveal sets of razor-sharp teeth and a pair of snake-like fangs. He folded them before closing his mouth and glaring at the ghost._

"_Jack, play nice," Mai scolded gently._

_Jack snorted before retreating to the shadows and disappearing. Mai's face fell. Her new friend did not like her old friend._

"_It's okay, Mai. We don't have to be best friends."_

"_Yeah, but I like you both."_

"_Who's to say you have to like either or?"_

"_I want to be able to enjoy both of your company at once."_

_Gene nodded, understanding. "You are sensitive to antagonistic energies. It is only natural you would want peace."_

_Both he and Mai took a seat on the void. "So you still didn't answer my question," Mai said. Gene raised an eyebrow. "What are you here for?"_

"_Can't I just want to see you every now and then?"_

"_But ever since Jack bit you that one time, you haven't shown up when he's around. So what gives?"_

"_Perhaps I wanted to test the bounds again? It's been a month since we've been in the same general vicinity."_

_Mai narrowed her eyes. "There's something you're not telling me, and I don't know why you won't just spit it out."_

"_There are some things that I have no right to say, Mai."_

_A crash sounded, almost like a vase smashing into the floor. Mai jumped. There were no vases in this place. And there certainly wasn't a floor for a vase to break on. Mai's head whipped from left to right, frantically searching for the source of the noise. Gene grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Mai looked at him. He was not looking at her. He was staring behind her. She turned around and followed his line of sight, but there was nothing. Nothing but the void._

The lights were still on, but the sky had started to grow dark. The door to Naru's office was ajar. That was odd. However, what really caught her attention was that Lin's door had a big damn hole in it, with pieces of vase everywhere. It was almost as if someone had tried to bash his door down. _How the hell did I sleep thought that? _Mai thought. _Better yet, what happened?_

A flash of blue caught her eyes. She looked outside. There was a police car in the parking lot. Mai ran outside. What the hell was going on, and why did she sleep through it? She grabbed her coat and moved to the door, only for Naru to enter.

"What happened?" Mai asked.

"Apparently there was some kind of a… struggle on our property."

"A fight?"

Naru nodded, albeit hesitantly. "Someone found blood and tire marks on the ground and called the police."

Mai could tell there was something on Naru's mind. He seemed too troubled for this to be something minor. She decided to help out- possibly lighten the mood. "Why don't I make us some tea? Here, let me take your coat."

Naru's eyes widened and he whipped his head around to the coat stand. There were no coats on it. He was wearing his, and so was Mai. Two coats. Mai, at that point, became very worried indeed.

"Naru, what is it?"

"It's Lin. He's been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?"

"Or incapacitated in some way or another. Don't you see? His coat isn't on the rack."

Mai's brow furrowed. She had just assumed he'd taken it into his office. But he'd never done that before, so it was suspicious that his coat wasn't there. And Mai didn't see it anywhere else.

"But why would someone want to kidnap Lin? I mean- he's Lin!"

Naru shook his head. "He doesn't have any enemies, at least not the kind that would go to the measure of kidnapping. Those are my enemies." Mai's eyes widened at that last bit. Naru saw this, but he paid it no mind. "The only reason I could see anyone kidnapping Lin would be because of me, somehow. Or something else."

"But Lin has his shiki, doesn't he?"

Naru remained poker-faced, but Mai had a point. Lin had shiki, and they could do damage against humans. They had before. So why didn't they now? And by now, they would have made their distress known to one of them.

"Mai, didn't you take a nap today?" Naru asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"Did you see anything?"

"I… nothing out of the ordinary." The visit with Gene went unsaid, but it needed no saying, most certainly in Naru's case. He nodded.

"Go to the sofa and sleep some more. See if you can find anything."

"Okay." She moved over to the couch. The kettle whistled.

* * *

><p>The air was thick and musty. There was a smell lingering about- something along the lines of rust. However, it smelled too… natural to be oxidizing metal. His stomach hurt. When it wasn't a dull throbbing, it was a sharp spasm, right up his torso and into his throat. He pressed his right hand to the epicenter of the pain before realizing how bad of an idea that was. He bit through the pain before placing his hand back down at his side. The floor beneath him had a thick, sticky liquid spilled in certain places. He took a deep breath, only to choke on the smell. Swallowing down an urge to vomit, his head lolled to the side. He then dared to open his eyes. The distorted face of a child stared back at him, expression and body devoid of life. Only a soulless terror remained.<p>

Lin shot straight up. He propped himself upright, only to wish he had stayed asleep. He was in a dark room, blood lining every other inch of the place. His suit was stained in the mess. And to top it all off, at least a dozen children's corpses lay in the room with him- bodies mangled into broken shapes, each and every one of them dead. Ignoring the pain in his stomach and in the back of his head, he rose to his feet. He looked around the room some more. There was an iron door with a wheel attached to it, like a submarine. He moved over to it, trying his best not to slip in the mess all around him. He tried the wheel. It didn't budge. However, he did hear echoes from behind the door. Footsteps. And screaming. Another child, and two more voices.

"Rejected. Every single one of them rejected!" said one.

"You mustn't lose heart," the other replied. "He will surely accept one of these two."

"He weakens by the second. There won't be much of him left to do any accepting."

"All the more reason to prepare these ones faster."

"With more care."

"But faster."

"With care."

The wheel screeched. Lin, using the sound as cover, returned to the place where he woke up and lay down. He hoped that the two coming in wouldn't notice he had changed. The door hissed, and steam emerged from the other side. A little girl in a pink dress was thrown in. She couldn't have been more than eight years old. A boot kicked her all the way in and threw her down. Lin's eyes were closed, but he didn't need them to tell what those monsters were doing to her. He also didn't need his eyes to tell that the two adults had quickly shut the iron door, leaving the girl to frantically pound on it, begging to be let out.

When he was sure that the two others were out of earshot, he rose from his position, minding his head and stomach. The girl was still screaming and crying.

"Uh, hello?" he asked.

The girl turned around. Her eyes widened. Lin didn't think that her screams could get any shriller, but they did. He did his best to ignore it and came to kneeling.

"Please, I won't hurt you," he said softly. He extended his hand as the little girl turned around. She ducked into a corner, trying to make herself as small as possible. Lin, against his every instinct, got up and moved over to her. She cried out when he put a hand on her back, but as he stroked her, she seemed to calm down. Eventually, she unlocked herself from her position, and Lin was able to pull her into a hug. Now, on any other occasion, he would be completely against doing something like this. But this wasn't just any other occasion. They were both marked for death. And there was little hope that they would make it out alive.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Jack, this is Gene. He's a friend," Mai said, caressing Jack's snout with Gene standing two yards away. _

_Gene had a look of uncertainty on his face. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"_

"_It'll be fine," Mai replied, only for Jack to chuff at her. She stroked his snout again before quietly shushing him. "Okay, now Gene, raise your hand to him." Gene sighed before doing as the stubborn girl asked. Jack growled. "Come on, Jack, behave."_

"_How do you know he even understands you?" Gene countered._

_Mai turned to Jack, who looked at her with unblinking eyes. "Can you understand me? Nod your head if you can." Instead, she got an eye-roll from the creature. She shrugged. "Close enough." She turned back to Gene. "See?"_

"_Well at least it can snark well," the spirit replied. He then tilted his head. "Weren't you here for something?"_

"_You and Jack."_

"_No, something else."_

_Mai stopped to think. Yes, it did feel like there was something she needed to be doing. Jack nudged her back into the present. Gene narrowed his eyes at the creature. Something was wrong with this picture and they all knew it. Gene cleared his throat._

"_Does my brother know about Jack?"_

_Mai shook her head before cuddling with the creature once again._

"_Why not, Mai?"_

"_Because the first time he showed up, he didn't do me any harm. And then he showed up a second time, and he didn't hurt me. And you came with him the third time- he made a clown out of you as I recall-" Gene scowled at that. "But he never harmed any of us. Well… aside from that one time…" Gene rubbed his hand. "So yeah, I never really saw the need to tell anyone about this."_

"_I think my brother should know."_

_Mai frowned. "You're just tired of getting bitten all the time. Don't worry; you and Jack will be friends in no time."_

"_It's taken a month, and besides, that's not the point. Something else is going on here, and, I can't place my finger on it, but I think it has something to do with Jack." Gene pointed a finger at the beast, and he growled again. Mai didn't correct him. "Now come on," Gene said, advancing in on Mai. "There's something you need to see." He placed a hand on her shoulder. Jack's reaction was instantaneous. He snapped at Gene, who just barely moved his arm away in time._

"_Jack!" Mai exclaimed, rounding on him. "What's the matter with you?" Jack retreated, whining like a kicked dog. "You do _not_ snap at other people, got that?"_

_Jack nodded before slinking back into the shadows. She turned to Gene. "I'm so sorry about him. I don't know what's gotten into him lately."_

"_He's probably just tired of seeing my face," Gene replied. Then his expression hardened. "He's dangerous, Mai."_

"_What do you mean? Well, I know he hasn't been all that friendly with you–"_

"_Did you not _look_ at him the first time you saw him? He has blades protruding from his arms, Mai. He has rows of carnivorous teeth, and a pair of fangs to boot. His tail is a whip."_

"_Yeah, but just because he's got weapons, it doesn't mean he can't be friendly."_

"_Yeah, just because I am a safe gun owner doesn't mean that when I'm not pushed to the limit I won't shoot."_

"_Yeah, but…"_

_Gene turned around and put his hands on her shoulders. "Look, I know how much this friendship means to you, but I just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong here. Now, you came to find out about Lin, didn't you?"_

_Her eyes widened. Of course! How had she forgotten? Her expression said it all. Gene continued before she could say anything. "When you're done, return to this place. That way, I'll know you're safe before I send you back."_

"_Wait, Gene, what time is it in the other world? Time passes faster, doesn't it?" Gene removed his hands from her shoulders before vanishing. "Wait, Gene! Wait!"_

_And just as suddenly, she couldn't speak. Her body floated forward against her will. A yellow light flickered in the distance. As it drew closer, Mai realized that it was actually a cluster of lights. Like a little yellow galaxy. But galaxies weren't like that. She narrowed her eyes and willed herself to go further. The shape began to solidify. It looked like a crown. A glowing, yellow crown. No. It was a castle. No- a tent. A carnival tent. Mai looked around. _Why'd you bring me here, Gene, _she thought._ _She moved in closer. Now she could hear carnival music, although something about it seemed… off. She was too far away to hear the details. She was about to move closer when something brushed against her leg. She looked down to see a pair of children approaching, apprehensive yet excited. They entered through a gap in the fabric walls. Something else caught her eye to her left. More children. They were appearing out of nowhere and approaching the carnival, the younger ones laughing and tugging at the older ones' hands. The older ones were more cautious, but as they drew close to the big, colorful tent, they lost all sign of intimidation. But why was Gene showing her this? Sighing, she went toward the opening in the fabric. However, as soon as she was about to touch it, the vision shattered into a million pieces. Mai then found herself back among the white floating lights and milky void._

"_Mai!" shouted a voice._

"_Mai!" echoed another._

"_Mai!" "Mai!" "AI" "M-" Voices were suddenly shouting and calling for her, all overlapping each other- Mai couldn't tell what half of them were saying. Gene's form appeared about ten yards away._

"_Gene!" Mai shouted over the roar of voices. Gene said nothing as he stretched out his hand. However, he wasn't offering his hand to her; his palm was facing her way, as if he were sending her somewhere. Then everything else began to fade away._

Her eyes opened, and she immediately had to shield herself from the glare of the florescent lights. A redheaded woman sitting the sofa beside her turned to her, now realizing that she was awake. Mai pulled herself to sitting, and Ayako put her hands on her shoulders.

"How do you feel?"

The room suddenly shifted in Mai's peripheral vision. She looked around to see that everyone else had been alerted by Ayako's voice.

"Mai, you're awake!" Takigawa said, bounding over.

"Thank goodness," Masako added.

"You had us all worried sick," Ayako said.

"Why?" Mai asked.

"You've been asleep for two days."

Her eyes widened. "Two days!" She looked around. She was still in the office. Light was pouring in from the windows. Naru came out from his office. He looked exhausted, but he didn't let that ruffle his feathers.

"If you're wondering why you're not in a hospital, it's because I deduced that you were astral-projecting, and moving your body would have risked your spirit getting lost," he said.

"Oh, well, thanks for that."

"Never mind. Did you find anything?"

"Gene showed me a carnival."

A few people exchanged glances.

"What?" Mai asked.

"That would explain the sleep-humming," Takigawa replied. "For a while there, we thought you'd gotten your soul eaten or something." He tried to laugh to lighten the mood, but Ayako elbowed him before he could get out even a chuckle.

"Mai," Naru said, snapping everyone back into focus. "What about this carnival?"

"I don't know. The vision shattered before I could get in."

"Who was running the place?" Naru pressed. Mai shook her head. Then she remembered something.

"Children."

"Children were running the carnival?" Ayako asked.

"No, children were going to the carnival."

"Yeah, but that's normal," Takigawa said.

"But there wasn't an adult in sight. They were all going alone. Or with their siblings, but no parents."

The others in the room looked at her, pensive. "Just children," Naru mused.

"But that doesn't seem to have anything to do with Lin," Takigawa interjected. Mai stared at her. Monk understood her silent question. "Naru filled us in on what happened. The police are still investigating,"

"It's awful," Masako added.

"What about security cameras? Did they pick up anything?" Mai asked.

"They saw it happen, but that was all."

"Did Lin fight back at all?"

"He was held at gunpoint from two directions and knifed," Naru said. Mai's hands flew to her mouth. Some of the others looked surprised as well. _I guess only Naru saw the tapes_, Mai thought.

"But what about his shiki?" Mai asked again.

"They're with me," Masako said. Everyone looked at the medium. "They were knocked away by that man with the baton on fire. They tell me he was burning a particular kind of incense that knocked them out cold. They latched onto me when I arrived."

"When?"

"A day ago. They were trying to find Lin, but they are practically powerless without him."

"It's almost as if that incense scrambled their senses," Takigawa added. Masako nodded. She looked down towards her shoulder before reaching up and stroking something that nobody else could see, although they all knew what it was.

"They're worried about him, aren't they?" the monk asked.

"Yes."

"And they have every reason to be."

"Mai," Naru said, drawing everyone's attention back to the brunette. "Did you see anything else?"

She thought back. The length of her thinking time had Naru suspicious. It was clear she had seen something- she was debating on whether or not she should tell him.

"Mai, what are you not telling me?"

She shook her head. "It's not important."

"Mai, since when has anything in your dreams been 'not important'?"

Mai looked up. As always, Naru had a point. Mai didn't just meet people on the spiritual plane because they wanted to make friends (or at least that wasn't the _only_ reason). She had met Jack for a reason, and her instinct-driven dreams were rarely wrong about the things they prophesized.

"I've been meeting with a new friend for the past two months."

Everyone's attention sharpened on her.

"What do you mean?" Naru asked.

"I've been visiting with someone on the spiritual plane in my dreams. We met two months ago. But he's harmless! He wouldn't hurt me!"

"Just because he won't hurt you doesn't mean he isn't using you, whoever this friend is," Takigawa said.

"Who is this friend?" Ayako asked.

Mai shook her head. "He can't talk. I call him Jack."

"Why can't he talk?"

Mai shrugged. "He just can't."

"So he's mute?" Naru asked.

"No, he's made sounds before. He just can't talk. But he can understand what I'm saying. And he likes me. He just isn't too fond of Gene. The last time the two ran into each other, he tried to snap at him." She giggled a little, but the others were having none of it.

"Mai, who is this friend of yours?" Takigawa pressed.

"He just showed up one day."

"I think Monk meant 'what is he'," Naru interrupted.

"I don't really know. He… I don't know how to describe him."

"Is he human?"

"No, not at all," Mai said. "He's not even humanoid. Think cross between pterodactyl, komodo dragon, sea serpent, and can opener."

"Mai, that creature is _dangerous_," Naru hissed. Mai's eyes hardened.

"Gene said the exact same thing."

"Then listen to him. He knows what he's talking about."

"No he doesn't! No you don't! Jack's nice! He's friendly! He wouldn't hurt me!"

"But he snapped at Gene," Ayako pointed out.

"He's like a cat! You know, cats don't like everyone!"

Takigawa crossed his arms. "And what happens when he goes all pterosaur, dragon, serpent, can opener on someone and kills them?"

Mai, too, crossed her arms. "You're saying he's a liability?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. And when he turns his teeth on you, you're not going to be happy, and I don't want to have to see you dead. None of us do! Please, take your safety into concern for once."

"So what am I supposed to do? Turn him away, just like that? Because that's what's going to cause him to turn mean!"

"You said he can understand you," Masako said, the voice of calm in the storm of yelling. Mai and everyone else turned to her. The brunette nodded. "Then just explain to him the situation."

"No, you're better off not telling him anything," Naru said.

"But Naru," Mai started, but Naru stopped her.

"What if he's just pretending to have lower levels of intelligence? If you tell him too much, he'll have an extreme advantage over you and all of us. You could be putting us all in grave danger with this person."

"And if I let him down hard, he'll turn mean. I just said that, Naru." Naru glowered at her. She returned the stare. "So since you've got everything under control (which you don't), tell me how you would get rid of him."

"It's clear he's not human. He's some kind of spiritual essence. We'll have to exorcise him."

"No, I won't let you do that!"

"But how will we get into her dreams?" Masako asked, ignoring Mai's protests.

"She'll have to go to sleep," Naru began, still keeping his frosty glare on the girl. "And then John will perform an exorcism on her when she meets with him. Masako, give some of Lin's shiki to her. They can help subdue Jack."

"But how will we know when she's meeting with him?"

"Two months ago, you started mumbling in your sleep," Naru said to Mai. "Now we know why." He turned to leave. "I'll call John. Make sure she doesn't leave." His office door slammed shut.

"You don't understand!" Mai shouted, struggling against Ayako holding her to the sofa. "None of you understand! He doesn't deserve this! At least let me talk to him!"

Takigawa knelt down in front of her and held her face so that she was looking him in the eye. "Remember back to the case when we first met Yasu?" Mai paused before nodding. "Remember what I told you?" Mai didn't respond. "I said, 'Have some faith in Naru.' Aside from his social skills, he's a smart guy. Trust him. He knows what he's doing."

"Not always," Mai said, her eyes watering with frustration. "Not always."

_Mai was on the spiritual plane again. It was almost as if she could no longer control her journeys here. A figure appeared in the darkness. It was Jack. The creature lumbered towards her, and she extended her hands. She stroked his muzzle and touched her nose to his snout. She then pulled away and looked him straight in his beady eyes._

"_You have to leave. You're in danger."_

_Jack stared at her as if she hadn't said a thing._

"_Jack, listen to me! You've got to get out of here before they–" A white pulse of light cut her off and swarmed the two of them. The light split into three lights and began to swirl around Jack's forelegs and neck. Lin's shiki! "NO!" Mai screamed at the top of her lungs. "No! Stop it! All of you! You don't know what you're doing!"_

_She ran towards them to force them off, but a hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder, stopping her. Mai struggled against it. "Gene, let me go! You don't understand! He's not a threat!"_

_A new voice sounded, and a new light glowed. However, this light was in the form of a yellow cross. Jack was hissing, spitting, and screeching. His fangs were folding and unfolding, the same with the blades on his arms–a futile struggle to escape the grasp of the shiki entrapping him._

"_Our father, who art in heaven… hallowed be thy name."_

John.

"_No, John, don't do it!" But no matter what she did, the voice did not stop. Gene started to drag her away from the scene. She heard as John continued on, and as Jack suffered under the pulses of lights._

"_May God have mercy on your soul."_

_Jack erupted into dark spores before vanishing completely._

"_NO!" Mai screamed. She fell to her knees in rage. Gene went down to comfort her. He put a hand on her shoulders, but she shoved him away. "You didn't listen to me!" she thundered. "Nobody listens to me, and now my friend is dead!"_

_There was a silence._

"_I hate you all."_

"_You'll thank us later," Gene said. With that, her spirit guide vanished. She remained curled in fetal position, harboring the boiling anger in her mind. She didn't even realize as the floor beneath her became cold and hard. The last thing she heard was a piercing, inhuman shriek._


	3. Chapter 3

**.o0o.**

Lin had sat against the wall for who knows how long. He had lost all sense of time. The only thing he had to go on was the rotting corpses he shared a room with. He had vomited at least twice since he came here. That was after the strangers entered the room and took the girl away, kicking and screaming. She had been returned some time later, body mutilated beyond recognition. The strangers were saying something about a "complete failure," and "rejected." The only thing that tied her to her identity was the scrap of pink fabric still hanging off of her body. His stomach hadn't been able to hold out after that.

He had fought to protect the girl, but his injury still hurt, and when they slugged him in the stomach, he found himself paralyzed with pain. His hands were coated in blood now. His wound had been opened with the power of the blow. He currently sat against the wall, unsure of what to do. He had lost all five of his shiki, he had no idea where he was, and he failed to keep safe an eight-year-old girl. He didn't even know why she had been killed, or what he was even there for. So there he waited, for who knows how long, before he felt a thud vibrate through the walls and floor. He heard echoes yelling: "We're losing him!" and "Quick, get the last one!"

At that moment, the wheel screeched and the door opened with a hiss. In came two men. Lin got up, ready to fight. The first one dashed in and threw a hook, but Lin easily dodged it. The second grabbed his arm in an arm lock, but Lin swept his feet out from under him. The first had snuck behind him, and Lin kicked backwards. He sent the first flying, but standing on only one leg in a room covered in blood was asking for trouble. The second man on the floor grabbed his ankle and pulled sideways, causing Lin to fall, twisting his knee. The two grabbed his arms and hoisted him to his feet, however he stood, favoring his injured leg. A third man entered holding something in his hand. It was a key.

"Is he ready?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," the other two answered.

"Make haste."

The four of them went down a long hallway, with the same dark lighting as the room he was in. The passed a few heavy iron doors, but they were currently headed towards the massive double-doors that one might see going into a restaurant kitchen. The third man held the key up to the seam between the doors. They parted, creaking heavily. A warm wind blew past them.

Lin watched silently as objects became visible. The light was still just as bad as before, but he could make out a large bed with purple drapery hanging from the ceiling. There was someone lying on top of the bed, not under the covers. It seemed to be lying face down, and there seemed to be appendages spilling off the end and sides. Lin could barley make out a long, whip-like tail.

The men began to chant.

"Demon awake;

An offering we present you."

The men left the room hastily, leaving Lin alone with the figure on the bed. Still favoring his injured leg, he backed toward the door, only to stop when he heard a pitiful moan emanate from the person on the bed. He heard the unknown presence breathe in and out, shuddering on the exhale. Something wasn't right about this. Against his better judgment, he moved in for a closer look. As he got closer, he was able to make out the particular traits that the being had.

It had a long neck, whip-like tail, long forearms with blades attached, and short, slender hind legs. It seemed to have spiracles at the base of its neck, which seemed to be working overtime. The room was wet with water, and there was a drain at an indent in the floor. The creature's long muzzle was covered in blood, as was the pillow it laid its head against. Its eye opened, and the creature stared outwards, unfocused. Lin raised a hand in front of the eye. He moved it around, but the eye did not follow. He then did probably the dumbest thing he had ever done; he touched the creature's snout. The skin beneath its scales rippled in surprise. The creature was cold. Lin moved his hand down and opened the creature's mouth, revealing sets of razor-sharp teeth, and a pair of foldable fangs, like a snake's. It did not react as Lin did this. Its eyes were unfocused, and it was unresponsive to pretty much anything Lin did. There was little doubt in his mind; this creature was ill, and the children, Lin mused, were supposed to be its food to help it recover. But it apparently hadn't eaten much, which explained the talk of rejection.

Lin pulled his hand away and began to look around for a way out. A large claw suddenly grasped his arm, and he jumped. He looked down to see the creature's eye focused on him. It made a rumbling noise in its throat and pulled him forward. It placed his hand on his neck and seemed to lean into the warmth. It then wrapped its long forearm around Lin's body, pulling him in closer. Lin soon found himself in an awkward position, hunched over the bed with three of the creature's limbs wrapped around his body: its neck, its forearm, and its tail. He could almost feel it sucking the heat out of him. Its spiracle was pressed against his shoulder, and it seemed to be working even more sporadically than before. Then Lin realized. It was smelling him. He braced himself, waiting to feel the creature's jaws sink into his flesh, but instead, he was met with a cooing sound. _Does this mean I'm accepted, _Lin thought. _But if I am, why me? Why not those others?_

He was broken out of his thoughts when the creature maneuvered hits head so that it was buried in Lin's chest. And there, Lin saw it. A cross mark imbedded in between its eyes. This thing was a demon, and it had recently gotten into a fight with a priest. Lin passed a hand over the mark. The creature suddenly shrieked in pain and fell limp. The cross mark smoked before vanishing.

It was at that moment that the doors pushed open. Lin craned his neck to see behind him. There stood a group of people watching the scene, all of them dressed in purple robes. Several of them were holding firebrands, and one of them was holding a dagger.

"What did you do?" one of them demanded.

Another one ran up to the demon and put a hand on its snout. "You've killed him!" He lifted the dagger and struck downwards. Lin had jumped aside, just barely missing getting knifed again. Another robed man dashed after him and struck him hard in between the shoulders with the metal brand. Lin fell to his knees, injured leg crashing painfully into the floor. He had only his arms and hands to protect himself from the angry assailants. He cried out as someone pressed a burning brand into his side. Suddenly, the offending instrument was gone. The man holding it was now dangling upside down in the air, held up by his ankle. Lin looked up. The creature on the bed was holding up the guy with his tail. It tossed him across the room, lifting its neck and hissing at the others. They backed away, apprehensively. The demon eyed them, suspicious. The people were whispering to each other. Lin just barely made out the words "accepted" and "Why isn't he–"

The demon on the bed unwrapped itself and stood erect. Its form was at least two feet taller than Lin, but it seemed shaky on its feet. It hissed at the people by the door. They seemed to get the message and left the room. The creature turned back to Lin, pressing its muzzle into his chest. Lin fell back and grasped his knee and his side. The creature looked down at him, concern seeming to bubble in its eyes. It crawled off the bed and looked around. Its spiracles flared, and it started to lumber towards the double doors. Lin followed close behind. He jumped as it effortlessly smashed through the heavy iron door at the end of the hall. He ran when it started to tear into the bodies of the children.

* * *

><p>"You didn't listen to me!" Mai screamed, hands clasped over her ears. Currently, Masako, John, Ayako, and Takigawa were trying to comfort her, but it was clear to them that this was only aggravating the situation. "I told you that Jack wasn't a threat, but you went and killed him anyway!"<p>

"Mai, we did it for your own good," Ayako reasoned.

"How do you know what's best for me? You've never even met him!"

The door opened. It was Naru. Mai glared with all her might, but even when completely infuriated, she could not faze him. He could tell that she was still in a rage, so he let her be. Instead, he turned his attention to the others, John in particular.

"You still haven't answered my question," he said. John blinked. "Why haven't you called the police about this? Why come to me?"

"Because the disappearances are always accompanied by supernatural phenomena."

"Like what?"

"The lights will all flicker on and off once before the child goes missing."

"Wait, what's going on?" Mai asked. Everyone turned to her.

"John was telling us about strange disappearances at his church while you were asleep," Takigawa replied, to which John nodded.

Mai's eyes widened. _Disappearances?_ "Who disappeared?"

"Several children," said the priest.

"And they've only happened at night?" Naru cut in.

John nodded. "Yeah, around one in the morning or so, always accompanied by the single flash of light."

"Have you seen it happen personally?"

To that, the priest tilted his head. "Well, kind of. I saw it start to happen, but as soon as I came in, it stopped. The child- he was still there after the lights stopped."

"Did you do anything to whatever tried to take the child?"

"No, I just came into the room."

"And it aborted the abduction."

John nodded. "I was hoping you would help us out, but it seems you all have enough on your plates at the moment."

"But John, you can't just do nothing!" Mai exclaimed, standing up.

"I'm not doing nothing," John countered. "The staff that works at the church has been taking turns watching over the children at night. We haven't had a disappearance since."

"I've already sent out four of Lin's shiki to see if they can find anything," Masako said.

"And the police are still investigating," Naru added. "There really isn't much we can do without a lead."

"John," Mai interrupted. "You're our friend. Sure we'll help you."

Naru looked at her. "You don't make that call."

"And you shouldn't have made the call about Jack. So now, this is payback. We're helping John."

Naru passed a glance over everyone else before sighing in defeat.

"Hold on," came Masako's voice. "I sent out Lin's shiki, and after they're done searching, they'll have to find me. I'm not tied to them the same way Lin is, so they cannot sense me. I need to stay here, from where I sent them."

Naru crossed his arms. "If we need you, we'll call you." He turned to everyone else. "Let's get the van loaded."

* * *

><p>It was just as they all remembered it, the church, the playground, the children, except there was a noticeable difference in the air. Everything was covered in a layer of apprehension. There were children on the playground with several staff members watching over them. Some were playing, but others were sitting close to the adults. There were signs up that warned children to not be anywhere alone. The staff seemed exhausted as well, save for a few new volunteers.<p>

"It's so… quiet," Mai said.

"Well yeah," Takigawa reasoned. "You'd have to be living under a rock to not notice what's been going on here."

"Oh good, you're all here," came a voice. Enter Father Tojo. Everyone except Naru smiled when that familiar face came up to greet them.

"Hello, Father," Mai said with a polite bow, which he returned.

"Please, come this way," he said, taking the lead inside, back to the same meeting place they had sat at last time they were there. The door was closed, placing a barrier between the frisky, nervous energy of the children. A staff member came by with tea. Once everyone was situated, Tojo continued. "For starters, John has told me about your missing colleague. I'm so sorry it happened, and I wish you all best of luck."

"Thanks," Mai replied.

Tojo continued. "I'm also sure he has told you what's been going on here?"

"For the most part," Naru replied. "Children have been going missing recently at around one in the morning, accompanied by a single flash of light. But when an adult is awake watching them, nothing happens."

"Yes, that's right."

"How often do these abductions happen?"

"It started once a week about a month ago. Now it's happened multiple times a week, but we caught it a week ago."

"An adult presence seems to drive it away?"

Tojo nodded. "At least people in their late teens."

Naru nodded, head in thought. "So the abductor is repelled by the mere presence of adults?" He paused before looking up. "How many children would go missing in a night?"

"It's usually one or two. It's only ever once been three, and that was with a set of triplets."

"Which means the sets of two were twins?"

"For the most part, yes. Sometimes two would go missing in the same night without any family ties to each other."

"But those instances were when they were close friends," John interjected. Tojo nodded.

"Have you tried an exorcism?"

"I have, but the entity was never here long enough for us to catch it."

"And what makes you think we can help if you can't even get a grip on it yourself?"

"We'll find a way!" Mai said. Everyone turned to her. "We'll find a way. We always do."

"Mai, you can start by taking a nap," Takigawa said with a smile. Mai deadpanned at him, but she knew he was right. However, there was only one little problem. She wasn't tired. Not in the least. Takigawa saw her frowning at him. "Come on, we need the information."

"I can't sleep on command, Monk," Mai replied, crossing her arms. "I won't be able to. Not now. It's the middle of the day!"

"And I wouldn't allow it right now, anyway," Naru interjected, getting up. "I want to set up our cameras and our base. You can sleep later."

"Yes sir, boss," Mai said, giving him an energetic salute. However, as they set up, they noticed that Mai was acting somewhat standoffish. They pretty much knew what she was so bitter about, but they said what they needed to. There was no undoing what was done. And there was also no stopping the concerned stares that were thrown in her direction, which she continued to ignore. However, it seemed as though it was taking a lot of her energy to ignore them. Eventually, Takigawa spoke up.

"Mai, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Mai stopped adjusting the camera she had been fiddling with for the past five minutes and turned to him. There were tiny droplets of tears in the corners of her eyes. Takigawa came over to her, as did Ayako, and both of them embraced her.

"No, I'm sorry," Mai said, muffled by their clothing. "It's immature of me to hold a grudge."

Takigawa broke out of the hug and warmly looked her in the eye. "How about I make it up to you, somehow?" the monk asked in that brotherly-fatherly tone.

Mai looked down. "I'd rather we just drop the subject."

"Okay. I understand."

They went back to their work, but not before Mai made them all (including Naru, who would've asked for it now anyways) tea. The action of pouring hot water calmed her immensely. It even relaxed her and made her… yawn. That's when she looked out the window. It was already dark. Her eyes widened. _How did time fly so fast?_ Thinking back, she remembered that they actually had set up everything else, and this was the last room. Her absentmindedness really made the job go faster.

"Mai," called Naru.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Mai shouted back, carrying a cup of tea. When she entered the room to base, she was surprised to find him sitting at the monitors and typing. It was so strange to see him doing Lin's job. She set the tea down next to him, which he reached for instantly. Something moved on one of the monitors. It was the front door. Father Tojo came in, leading in a young man with black hair and glasses.

"Yasu!" Mai exclaimed.

Naru looked up. "Good, he's here."

Mai turned to him. "You called Yasu?"

"We need the extra hands," Naru replied, moving towards the door. Mai looked at half of the file written on the computer. _Oh yeah,_ Mai thought. _Naru can't do Lin's job, at least not by himself; he hasn't got the time._

"Hey, Yasu!" came Takigawa's voice from outside. Apparently Naru hadn't told anyone else about this either. "Good to see you."

"Good to see you too," was Yasu's reply, only to be interrupted by Takigawa.

"Hey, stop hugging me!"

Mai let out a chuckle. Good old Yasu. Then she had a thought. _Yasu_ would be writing the files. She hid her devious grin behind her hands. She'd have to get her hands on the file report after all of this was over (and before Naru got a hold of it). It was guaranteed to be comedy _gold._ The door opened on her and her smile.

"Yasu!" Mai exclaimed, at least trying to channel her mischievous mind in a less suspicious direction. However, if the equally mischievous glint in his eye was anything to go by, her efforts were futile.

"Hello, Mai! How are you doing?"

"Better, now that you're here."

"Don't stroke his ego, Mai," Takigawa growled.

"Why not?" Yasu asked, glasses gleaming. "If anyone's ego needs to be stroked, it's–"

"Naru."

Everyone turned to the door. There was John.

"Yes, John?" John turned around to see the man behind him. He faced him sheepishly before backing into the room so that he could get in.

"We're putting the children to bed now."

"Okay. Yasu."

"On it," replied the college student as he sat by the monitors. Naru followed him and began to instruct him on what to do. Takigawa and John watched with the same hollow awe that Mai had when it was just Naru at the monitors.

"It's so weird being on a case without him," Takigawa said.

"I know; it's weird. We take people for granted, when in reality, any one of us could die at any time," John added.

Mai rounded on him. "Lin is not dead." Naru and Yasu had stopped talking and were now looking at Mai. "He's not. He's too strong for that." Nobody said anything, but that was only because nobody wanted to face the other end of Mai's fury. Again. What was left unspoken was obvious. _He's not invincible._

_A hand touched her arm. She opened her eyes. There was a face, a sweet, young face looking down on her. And there was a man in a long black coat behind him. He looked like… Lin! Mai shot right up from the ground. She looked around to make sure she was where she thought she was. White orbs were floating everywhere. These were all spirits. Dead people. Lin was here. Mai was… too late. He was dead. Her eyes welled up with tears._

"_I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm so sorry, Lin."_

_Lin kneeled down to her level and cupped her face in one of his hands, making her look him in the eyes. In the eyes. He was using both of his eyes. Blinking away the tears, she observed him closely. He had that familiar stern look, but his hair was shorter, and he wasn't covering one of his eyes. A warm, higher pitched chuckle came from beside her. She turned her head to see a young boy, no older than twelve, in a blue jacket. Her eyes widened. _Kenji!_ And this was his father._

_She had never felt such relief in her life. Both spirits seemed to feel the happiness flowing off of her. Kenji's father wore such a warm expression- it was so weird seeing someone like Lin giving off such a warm aura. Kenji, on the other hand, jumped on her and hugged her, laughing._

"_Hi, Kenji," Mai said. Kenji relaxed his grip and looked her in the eyes. "Are you still not speaking?"_

"_Say hi, Kenji," his father said softly. Even his voice was like Lin's._

"_Hi," Kenji said weakly. _

_His father watched as the boy remained attached to Mai's torso. "Miss Taniyama," he began. Mai looked up. "I want to thank you for everything you did for my son."_

"_Of course. He deserves it," Mai said, ruffling the boy's hair. "I've never met a sweeter child."_

_The man nodded. "Thank you."_

"_Miss Mai?" came Kenji's tiny voice. Mai looked down. "I never got to say sorry to your friend. Please tell him for me?"_

_Mai's face fell. Kenji gave her a confused look. "My friend… is missing." Both spirits went quiet as they listened to the young girl. "He was kidnapped a few days ago, and we haven't got any leads." Kenji looked sad. "Hey, we'll find him." She then remembered something. She looked around. In the distance, she saw him. He was glowing, as always. He moved closer to them. "Gene," Mai greeted._

"_Hello, Mai," Gene replied. "Making new friends?"_

_The shift in the atmosphere was felt immediately. Gene blinked. "Mai, I'm sorry. I didn't mean–"_

"_I'm trying to move on. Can we just drop it?"_

_Gene nodded and then looked up, seemingly noticing Kenji and his father for the first time. His eyes widened at seeing the father._

"_Lin?" he asked. The man rose to his feet. Kenji moved away from Mai and stood beside him. Gene, seeing this, corrected himself. "No, you're not."_

"_No, I'm not," the man said. "But I'm sorry for your loss."_

"_Hey, let me ask you," Mai interrupted, attracting all three pairs of eyes. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about what's going on here, would you?"_

_The man looked down at his son, who looked back up at him. "Kenji likes to watch the church from time to time. He was the first to notice something strange going on."_

"_Have you seen it happen at all?" Mai pressed further. It was Kenji who responded. The boy shook his head._

"_T-they're there one minute and gone the next," he said. "Father Brown came in one night, right before one was about to go missing."_

"_And nobody went missing that night?" Mai asked, to which Kenji nodded._

"_Kenji brought me here after he saw it happen for the first time," the father added. "We've been watching over this place since then."_

"_Then have you been keeping away whatever's coming here and taking children?"_

"_We don't even know what we're looking for. I haven't seen anyone besides the occasional wandering soul."_

"_They've had staff watching over the children twenty-four-seven," Mai said. "That may be what's keeping the force away."_

_The man nodded. "I know. This place is full of love. It's so warm. Come, Kenji. We must let Mai wake up."_

"_Wait, it's morning already?" Mai asked, turning to Gene._

"_It's like seven twenty. Or something," Gene said with a shrug. The man and his son stepped back, away from Mai and Gene. Their bodies became more and more transparent._

"_I'm glad you're here, miss Mai," Kenji said, clinging to his father's coat._

"_Please, call me Mai," the girl replied. The boy smiled and, with his father, disappeared in a puff of light._


	4. Chapter 4

**.o0o.**

When she awoke, Naru was there, looking down at her. She would've hit the ceiling in surprise, had she not gotten over her crush months ago. Although, that didn't change the fact that she was still quite surprised.

"Morning, Mai," Ayako said.

"Did you have any dreams last night?" Naru asked, cutting her right off. Ayako glared at him, crossing her arms. Naru didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah. Kenji's here."

The three of them paused. The door opened to reveal Takigawa, John, and Yasu, the latter of whom looked pretty beat. Mai sat up in bed.

"Kenji?" Ayako asked. John perked up.

"I thought we purified him," he said.

"We did," Mai replied with a nod. "He and his father are reunited."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Monk said. If expressions of Australians were anything to go by, Mai was pretty sure that John's heart was turning to mush as well.

"Yeah, and the two of them have been watching over the place ever since they noticed what's been going on here."

"Does that mean that they're keeping that force away?" Naru asked.

"They didn't know. They stationed themselves at the same time that you started having staff with the children at all times, and Kenji's father even said that he didn't see any malicious forces."

"Just because he didn't see them doesn't mean they're not there."

"Well yeah. But now we have another witness."

"Did…" Takigawa stopped, clearly unsure of how to proceed. "Did he have anything to say about Lin?"

"Yeah, that's right," Ayako said. "Kenji thought Lin was his father because they look alike." She looked at Mai. "Did he look like Lin?"

Mai nodded. "Scarily so. At first I thought it _was_ Lin, and that he had died. But it wasn't. And no, they don't know anything about what happened. Kenji was sad about it, though. He wanted to apologize to Lin."

Naru leaned back. "Well as long as they're here, and as long as miss Hara is preoccupied with Lin's shiki, you will have to be the diplomat between us and them."

"Yeah. I know." She paused. "Hey, did anything happen last night?"

"No, nothing. It's obvious to me that things aren't going to pick up on their own. Tonight, we'll have to conduct an experiment. You will be a key player, Mai."

Takigawa and Ayako's gazes hardened on the raven-haired boy next to Mai. What kind of danger was he going to put her in this time?

"What do I do?" Mai asked readily.

"We have to lure this force out. Tonight, we won't have any adults present when the children are sleeping. We'll station ourselves in strategic locations outside the room so that we can catch it in the act. Then we strike. You will be asleep as well, Mai. Astral projecting, if you can. See if you can take a look at what we're dealing with."

"Hold on. Will that even work?" Takigawa interrupted. "From what I remember, this thing strikes fast."

"All the more reason for us to be in tip-top shape for tonight."

"But what if we fail and lose a child? Naru, it's too risky," Mai said.

"Remember the case at Yasu's school?" Naru said. "The children won't be at any risk at all."

"But you can't make hitogata," Takigawa protested.

"No, I can't. Madoka can, though."

There was a pause. "Madoka?" Mai asked. There was a moment to let the idea sink in. And suddenly, it made all the sense in the world. Of course that eccentric woman would be able to do it.

"She'll be stopping by later with it," Naru said.

"Sounds like a plan," Mai replied. Her stomach growled. She put a hand over it in an effort to silence herself.

"Sounds like someone's hungry," Yasu spoke up.

"Yeah, what's for breakfast?" Takigawa asked, jumping on the food bandwagon. The group shifted out of the room. Ayako and Naru stayed behind. Ayako to stay behind with Mai, and Naru because the man had no human bodily functions whatsoever. Besides tea. Although the amount of tea he drank could indeed be considered inhuman. Mai smiled at the thought.

"I'm going to change out of my pajamas," she said. "You go on. Get something to eat." Surprisingly, both Naru and Ayako obeyed and left the room. As the door closed, Mai saw something appear in the corner of the room. It was Kenji, and he was smiling at her. She waved, and the spirit disappeared. She then got out of bed and began to get dressed.

* * *

><p>The creature had fallen asleep after gorging itself to the brim, bones and all. Lin had checked on it multiple times, apprehensive, but for some reason, not afraid. There was just something about this creature that was not a threat to him. Hell, it had even defended him from those strange people in purple.<p>

He had walked up and down the hall many times, examining and trying all of the doors, but none of them would budge. If he had his shiki, he would've already busted himself out by now. He was still lost in thought when a movement came from the room he first found himself in. The creature was waking up. Its blue and yellow eyes stared down the hall at him. Lin watched as its mouth opened wide and its fangs unfolded from its hard palate. It arched its back, audibly cracking a few of its bones before pacing down the hall towards the man. Lin began to panic. He was in no condition to fight this thing off, and there was no way in Hell he could outrun it with his injured leg. Besides, there was nowhere to run _to._ He took a step back. The creature kept walking until it was right up against him. The spiracles at the base of its neck flared. It brought its head down and nudged Lin in the chest. Lin lifted his hand. The creature put its muzzle in his palm. Then it did something peculiar. It turned around, showing Lin its back. Lin had to duck to avoid getting whacked by the blades on its arms, but he could tell for sure that the creature meant him no harm. For the moment.

It looked back at him, expectantly. It wiggled its rear end in an almost humorous manner, but Lin, for the most part, understood what it was trying to tell him. He approached cautiously. The creature watched him. He placed his hands on its back, and it lowered down further. He lifted his injured leg up, and in response, the creature moved its own leg into place so that he could use it as a stepping-stone. He got onto the creature's back and straddled it like a horse. He felt its powerful muscles ripple as it turned back around. The muscles tensed, and Lin realized what was about to happen. He quickly wrapped his arms around the base of the creature's neck, just as it charged forward, smashing through everything in its way, before jumping upward, bursting through the ceiling.

He was met with broad daylight. And trees. Lots of trees. And cold. Lin couldn't believe his eyes. They were on a mountain. He looked back down at the hole that the creature just leapt out of, but he couldn't see anything- only a dark cavern. He hadn't seen any cave-like features when they ran through the facility. As soon as the creature broke through the ceiling, they were out. Looking around, he couldn't see any sign of the people that had brought him there. It was almost as if the facility was… another dimension. He blinked at his thought. It was possible. The creature let loose a growl. The muscles tensed, and Lin grabbed tight again. It sprung down the mountainside and into the forest, heading towards the city in the distance.

It was surprisingly agile for something obviously not made for forest living. Lin just made sure to hang on for dear life. It was all for naught when the creature suddenly lurched and he was thrown, sailing through the air before crashing awkwardly into the roots of a giant tree. He looked up at it. There were cinders coming from one of its spiracles. The forest floor rustled, and Lin scrambled for cover. Just in time, too, since a bunch of purple clad people came practically out of nowhere. The creature hissed at them before doing what Lin could only assume was coughing. Something whizzed past his face, exploding in the creature's spiracles. Homemade explosives? Whatever it was, it made the creature shuffle back even more. The men held a series of chains as well as firebrands. That's when Lin thought of something. _Who the hell brings a firebrand this far away from the fire?_ Well, for whatever reason, the creature seemed to be afraid of them. Its spiracles were, once again, working overtime, and it was coughing.

Lin got up from his hiding place and began to back away from the scene. He knew relatively which direction the city was, and all he had to do was sneak away from danger. And walk. A lot. He backed up until he felt hot breath on the nape of his neck. His eyes widened. He turned around to see a bear. Of course. This just had to get worse, didn't it? He knew that in the face of a bear, you were to start singing (preferably you would have a bell, but…). However, running away from a psycho group of mystery men made that somewhat difficult. He tried to step around the bear, but it just stepped in his path. Then it glowed slightly.

Lin sighed with relief. "Nice disguise, Kai. You're getting better and better." The bear smiled.

"Don't let him get away!" crowed a voice farther away. Both Lin and the bear turned around to see the creature barreling towards them, with the men hot on its tail. Lin whistled shrilly, and the bear changed into an orb of light before careening into the space in between the creature and the men. The men skidded to a halt, while the creature whirled its head around, watching the bear shiki, which was now a familiar ball of glowing spiritual energy. One of the men swung a firebrand, which, to Lin's surprise, actually knocked his shiki aside. It lay by the roots of another tree, seemingly dazed. He gritted his teeth. _It's the same as before!_

The creature, who was watching all of this, suddenly stepped forward. It flexed the blades on its arms and opened its mouth, revealing its fold-in fangs and rows of carnivorous teeth. The bear, too, got up and stood beside the creature, growling at the men. One of the men swung the firebrand again, only for both of them to dodge. The bear shiki covered the creature's spiracles like a filter, and the creature charged the men. The men could clearly see what was going on, and that without the power of their incense they were helpless. They ran for it. The creature let loose an echoing roar after them, only to break off in coughing fits. The bear shiki got off of its neck and returned to Lin, where it faded from view.

Lin watched the creature with its back to him. He decided to approach. Bad move. The creature whirled around and roared at him. The bear materialized in front of him and roared right back. They began to chuff and snort at each other. Lin's eyebrows rose when it looked like the creature was _laughing_ at his shiki. The bear just growled even louder, baring its teeth even more. The creature sobered, but not because the bear was intimidating. It stopped because it thought that the bear looked cute. Lin could see it in its eyes.

"_He's mocking me,_" the bear said to Lin.

"_I gathered that much,_"Lin replied.

"_He wants to get to Mai._"

Lin did a double take (or at least as much of a double take that Lin can do). _How does he know Mai?_ He looked up at the creature. He looked back at the bear, which shook its head. He looked back up at the creature, staring down at him expectantly.

"Who are you?" he asked. The creature chuffed again. Lin looked at his bear shiki.

"_I'm not fluent in demon,_" the shiki replied. "_Either world destruction or something about sloths._"

Lin deadpanned. "_You have no idea, do you?_" The shiki shook its head. Once again, the creature in front of them began laughing before frowning. Then without warning, it ran off towards what Lin could only assume was the city. "_We can't let him get to Mai. Fly back to them and tell them where I am. Where am I, by the way?_"

"_Aokigahara._"

With that, the spirit disappeared in a flash of light. Well Aokigahara sure did explain the other dimension. This forest was supposedly littered with paranormal and fantastical energies. It was a place of interest for every paranormal researcher- so long as they weren't alone. Which Lin was. He picked up a stick that would serve as a cane to help him support his injured leg. He looked up at Mt. Fuji behind him and hoped that while walking back to Tokyo, he wouldn't end up as some goblin's lunch.

* * *

><p>"Did you really see him?" a boy asked, looking up at Mai with large eyes.<p>

Mai nodded. "He's here. He's watching over all of us."

"I feel so bad for him," said another child.

"Don't be. It's in the past. He wouldn't want you to feel bad." As soon as she said that, a dozen more children's voices flooded the air of their base. Takigawa burst into the room followed by Ayako.

"Hey, wait!" the monk frantically exclaimed, but it was of no use. The base was drowned in children. Yasu couldn't hold in his laughter as the three of them struggled with the kids.

"Oh, hey!" Yasu exclaimed, looking at the monitors. The three adults and the children followed his gaze. "Madoka's here. And I think Masako's with her."

"Masako?" Mai asked.

"Yeah. See? Look."

And truth be told, there was the medium standing beside the strawberry-haired woman. Naru walked toward them onscreen. Masako was saying something, and both Naru and Madoka visibly reacted. Naru said something to Madoka who nodded and moved to run away. She stopped herself and placed something in Naru's hands before running off for real this time.

"I wonder what they're talking about," Yasu mused.

"You think it could be…" Mai stopped herself.

The door burst open. It was Madoka. "Phone," she commanded.

"All right, children, I think it's time for you to run along now," Takigawa said, coaxing the children out of the base.

Yasu handed Madoka his cellphone, and she immediately called emergency services. There was a pause. "Yes, I'd like to report a found missing person." Both Mai and Yasu perked up at this. They exchanged glances. Could it be…? "Koujo Lin. Last seen four to five days ago- January 12th- kidnapped in the Shibuya Psychic Research parking lot. Age 27." Mai and Yasu's smiles could have been glowing at that point. "Yes, he is somewhere in Aokigahara forest." Their smiles fell. What. What was he doing in Aokigahara? Did that mean he was dead or something? "Alive," Madoka said, causing the two to turn to her. She was looking them in the eyes, but she was still on the phone. Bless that woman. "I don't know how long, or what condition he is in, ma'am. I just know where he is." There was another pause. "No, I didn't find him. I'm just reporting it." The tone on the other end of the line seemed to heighten for whatever reason. "It doesn't matter _how_. A missing person has been found!" The tone softened. "Thank you." She hung up and glared at the phone as if it were guilty for producing such an infuriating operator. Yasu stuck out his hand and took it from her before she could crush it.

"This is… amazing!" Takigawa breathed. "Finally."

"I'm so relieved," Ayako said, putting a hand to her chest.

"It's… I can't… I'm so…" Mai choked on her words.

"Believe it, Mai," came Masako's voice as she entered the room, Naru right behind her. "Lin's shiki- they found him. They left to go reunite with him as soon as the one that found him came back."

"Naru! They found him!"

"Madoka, the hitogata?" Naru asked. Mai's enthusiasm sunk like an anvil in a pond.

"In the bag, silly," Madoka replied, seemingly oblivious to Mai's emotional plummet. Naru looked in the brown paper bag he had been handed. Inside was the hitogata, already made and ready. Now all they had to do was wait two hours until eight thirty that night.

"Naru, did you even hear me?" Mai asked again. Naru turned his attention to her. "They found Lin!"

"Yes, I know. I'm glad he has been found."

The response was unemotional. Mai's spirits were not uplifted, even though she knew that Naru and sentiment didn't go well together. Takigawa understood her emotions and moved over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, and he smiled in return.

"Now if only you would smile at _me_ like that once in a while," came the voice of the one and only Yasuhara. Takigawa jumped out of his little moment of heartwarming before fuming at the college student. Mai paid them no heed. Instead, she chose to watch her raven-haired boss as he crossed the room.

"Miss Hara," he said. The medium turned to him. "Do you sense anything?"

Masako paused, hand to her lips. She then shook her head. "Yes. There… there is a young boy here. And a man… he looks like Lin, but he's not. They're right over there." She pointed to an empty corner. Mai followed her hand. She didn't see anything, but she trusted the medium. Mai waved to the corner and smiled. Kenji briefly became visible to wave back before becoming invisible to all except Masako.

"That's just Kenji and his father. I mean anything malicious," Naru said.

Masako tilted her head. "Kenji?"

"Yeah," Mai interjected. "They're watching over the church."

Naru crossed his arms. "Please, stay on topic."

Masako once again went back into her trance-like state. "No, there is nothing aside from those two."

Naru stopped and placed a hand on his chin, thinking. He stared at Masako before speaking. "We have a plan in place. Do you know what it is?"

"Madoka filled me in on a few things here and there."

"I'll fill you in on the details."

The two of them stepped back from the rest of the group. The rest of the group was filling the atmosphere to the brim with excitement, relief, and anticipation.

"When will he be coming back?" Mai asked.

"Well first the search and rescue team has to actually _find_ him. Aokigahara forest is kind of big, if you know what I mean," Madoka said.

"How long will it take?"

"For one man? Well, that could go either way. If they use dogs, they may cut down on time."

"I hope he's okay."

"Don't worry, Mai," Takigawa chirped. "He's Lin. Like you said, he's strong."

"Yeah. You're right. In a matter of days, he'll be right back with us."

The door creaked open. In came a lemony-haired priest. "Who?" he asked, stifling a yawn, obviously having overheard the conversation. "You don't mean Lin, do you?"

"Yeah! His shiki found him just today."

"That's great news! And speaking of news, dinner's just about ready."

"Thanks, John," Ayako replied, staring at him dead on for some reason. John blushed before walking off.

Takigawa elbowed her. "You're scaring him," he said.

"It's all in good fun."

"Oh you two," Yasu chimed in. "You argue like an old married couple." Cue two fists clobbering him over the head. Mai, still somewhat uneasy, found it in herself to laugh at their slapstick routine. They were her family now- her big, dysfunctional, invaluable family.

* * *

><p><em>A small child was cuddled in Mai's arms. The entire room reeked of carrion. There was a big, iron door in front of her, and she knew that sooner or later, someone would be coming out of it. She looked up and around for any signs of Gene, Kenji, or his father. The wheel turned. The door hissed, and it creaked open. Three men came in, all wearing purple robes. There was some kind of insignia on them, but Mai couldn't tell. It was too dark.<em>

"_Take the girl," said one of the men._

"_No!" Mai shrieked. "Stay back!"_

_A hand reached out to grab the girl. Mai jumped to her feet and kicked out, sending the man flying backwards. Mai stopped. Since when had she gotten so strong? The child had slipped out of her grasp and was now cowering in a corner._

"_Run for it!" she cried, but the child seemed to be paralyzed with fear. The men advanced at the girl. Mai jumped in their path, guard up, adrenaline pumping. The man threw a hook punch, which she evaded easily. She struck out, hitting the man in the throat with her elbow. The twisting of her torso as she threw the strike hurt in a way she could not place. It must have shown, since the third man made a beeline for her stomach, and without mercy, rammed his fist into the wound on her abdomen. The pain rocketed out from the area, and she fell to kneeling._

"_Ah shit, he's bleeding. You opened up the injury, you idiot!" said one of the purple-clad men._

He?_ Mai paused. What was going on?_

"_Mr. Lin! Help!" came a shrill voice. Mai turned her head. The girl was being carried off, effortlessly, like a sack of potatoes._

"_No! Let her go! Take me instead!" Mai shouted. She rose to her feet, shakily. She chased after them, but she was not fast enough to stop the iron door from hissing shut. She slammed into it, stomach screaming in protest. She shouted through the door for a good minute before giving up. It was clear that this wasn't going to amount to anything. She sat down in a corner, pulling her knees into her chest, and resting her forehead in her arms. The pain in her stomach subsided, as well as the weighted feeling of mortality._

_When she next looked up, she was in the spiritual plane. And by then, she realized what exactly she had seen. Her eyes began to water. _Oh Lin…_ A hand came and touched her on the head. She looked up, expecting to see Gene. Instead, it was Kenji's father, looking at her with an alarmed expression._

"_Are you okay?" he asked._

"_Yeah. Thanks."_

"_Have you seen my son?"_

_Mai shot straight up. The two of them looked around frantically, trying to spot the little boy amongst the mass of spiritual lights. That's when they heard it. "No!" the voice shouted. It was shrill and forceful. It took Mai a second to realize it was Kenji's._

"_Kenji!" she shouted, along with his father._

"_No! Don't listen!" Kenji's voice screamed._

"_Kenji, where are you?" his father cried. Once again, Mai found herself in a place of uncomfortable wonder. She had only ever heard Lin's voice reflect such emotions once or twice before, all because Naru had passed out after using his Qigong._

"_Don't listen! Don't go!"_

"_We're right here, Kenji!" Mai shouted into the abyss._

"_Mai!"_

"_I'm right here!"_

"_Mai!"_

"_Kenji!"_

"MAI!"

Mai's eyes snapped open. Naru was there, as was everyone else. The light was on. She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes, adjusting to the light. They were all looking at her with an expression of apprehension. "What?" she asked.

"Did you see the entity?" Naru asked.

"What entity?"

"Oh Mai," Naru sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. "Don't tell me you forgot what you were supposed to be doing."

Mai's eyes widened. The entity that was stealing children! "Did the hitogata work?" No one answered her for a minute. That was all she needed. "No…" she whispered.

"I'm afraid it's true," Ayako murmured. "The entity completely bypassed the hitogata and went straight for the children. One more child has gone missing."

"But there was an adult in the room with them, right?" Mai didn't think they could look any more apprehensive. Something was wrong. Very wrong. "Say something!" she said.

"I'm afraid our attempt to trick the entity has only made it angry," Naru said.

"What do you mean?" Mai shouted. "Just spill it already!"

"It was John's turn to watch the children. John has gone missing too."


	5. Chapter 5

**.o0o.**

"_Why are you here?_" Lin exclaimed. The five shiki, now in the form of small Chinese dragons, glanced questioningly at each other. He looked at the one with the faint green glow. "_Kai, did you at least _tell_ them about that creature?_"

"_What creature?_" growled the one with the blue hue, now leaning over the wood shiki. Instead of pressing him further, Lin just put a hand to his forehead, sighing. It was getting dark over Aokigahara.

"_Well at least we're all here to defend you,_" Kai attempted to amend. "_This place is extremely spiritually active._"

"_Yes, but I told you to tell them! Not just you four, but the rest of the SPR as well! You said that you could communicate with the medium!_"

"_Excuse me, master?_" asked the shiki with the yellow glow.

"_What, Rokku?_"

"_Why did you send _Kai_ of all spirits? You know he's a moron._"

"_I had no other choice!_" Lin snapped at the yellow dragon. "_And I do not need to justify myself to you!_"

"_Can we not all just calm down?_" pleaded the dragon glowing silver. The orange dragon that was now wrapped gently around Lin's neck nodded in agreement. Lin, on the other hand, glared at the silver dragon to remind her of her place. She got the message and shrunk back.

Lin continued. "_Now listen to me. The four of you._"

"_And not Wu?_"

Lin ignored his earth shiki's comment. "_The four of you need to go back. Whatever that creature was, you cannot let it get to Mai._"

"_We are not leaving you,_" the shiki glowing blue growled, the three others nodding in agreement.

"_Take, that's an order,_" Lin said. "_Wu will be staying with me._"

"_Of course he is,_" Rokku growled, rolling his eyes, before staring back down at Wu. "_He was always your favorite._"

"_He was my first._ _Now go._"

At that, the four dragons started to fly off, Kai going last, receiving nasty glares of the other three as they passed him. Lin watched them leave before growling and pressing his hand to his face again. His other hand was firmly clutching his makeshift cane as he pressed on. Wu watched him worriedly. It would take them at least half the night to even reach the end of the forest, granted that they did not get lost. Although credit to his master- he was pretty smart. Wu was told many times to fly over the canopy and find out if they were going the right way.

It was walking through the cold night with just the bloodstained clothes on his back that Lin realized just how banged up he was. The adrenaline had stopped pumping hours ago, and he was left feeling the entirety of his injuries, and his hunger. He realized that he hadn't eaten for what… a week? Judging by the moon, it was about that time. And he wasn't about to go sampling the fruits of Aokigahara. That was just asking for trouble. It also didn't help that he was freaking freezing in this weather. Wu provided some heat with his fire element, but it wasn't nearly enough to keep him acceptably warm. However, his condition wasn't the only thing worrying him. Lin just hoped that someone was there to receive his returning shiki.

* * *

><p>"<em>Where is she?<em>" Kai exclaimed. "_Where is the medium?_"

"_She probably left to do other things,_" Long reasoned. "_Humans have lives, you know._"

"_Said straight from the spirit's mouth_," Rokku mocked.

"_This isn't good,_" Kai whimpered.

"_If you had just_ told us from the beginning_!_"

"_Yes, Rokku, we've covered this,_" Take said.

"_But what do we do now?_" Long asked.

"_One of us will stay here in case the medium or one of the others comes back. The rest of us will return to the master._ _And it will _not_ be Kai._"

"_Just one?_" Rokku asked.

"_How many does it take to deliver a message?_" Take shot back.

"_How many does it take to fight a creature that looks like it came out of a kitchen explosion?_"

"_So then, Rokku. How would you split us up?_"

"_Long and Kai are the faster of the two of us._ _Their elements are metal and wood, respectively, so they should be able to cover each other's weak points relatively well. The two of us are earth and water, so we shouldn't be that bad off either._"

Take paused, thinking. Then she nodded. "_Fine. Long, Kai, go._"

"_Yes sir, ma'am,_" Kai said as they two of them shot off into the distance for the third time since the incident began.

* * *

><p>The cameras revealed only two things: one, John was having trouble staying awake; two, one minute he was there- the next, he wasn't. To say the team had become even more downfallen was an understatement.<p>

"I can't believe it," Mai whispered, cheeks cupped in her hands. "How could this happen?"

"It's my fault," said a voice. Everyone turned to face Father Tojo. "I knew he was overworking himself, but he insisted to take his nightshift. I should have tried harder to talk him out of it."

"Yes, you should have," Naru said, voice devoid of emotion. Tojo looked down.

"Hey Mai," Takigawa spoke up. He was flipping through his phone as he approached her. Mai turned to him. "Isn't this that guy?" He put his cellphone in her face.

"Jack!" Mai exclaimed. Everyone stopped. They looked at her and crowded Takigawa's phone. There, on the phone, was a picture of a raisin-colored reptilian with blades protruding from its long forelimbs. The creature was running down the street. The image was blurry. It apparently wasn't taken with a good camera.

"_That's _what's been meeting you in your dreams?" Naru growled.

"Where did you get this?" Mai asked, ignoring the narcissist.

"It's all over the internet this morning. It's been spotted multiple times running around Tokyo." And just as Takigawa said, Mai flipped through the images, finding many of them. There were plenty that showed the creature clearly overwhelmed by Tokyo's insanely large population. There were also some showing him on rooftops, avoiding crowds like that.

"He's looking for me," Mai said.

"What do you mean, Mai?" Ayako asked.

"I can just feel it. He's looking for me, and he's not going to stop until he finds me."

"How?" Takigawa pressed.

"Probably by scent," Mai replied. "Every time we met, he would always sniff me before cuddling."

"So vision is not its primary sense?" Naru mused.

"_He,_ Naru. Not it."

"How do you know?" Naru countered.

Mai paused. "I don't. It's just that 'it' is dehumanizing."

"_It_ is not human."

"Whatever. He's still coming for me. And he's not dangerous!"

"How can you say that?" Ayako asked.

"Look!" Mai pressed the phone into her face. "Look! He's there in the middle of public, not harming any one of them."

"Not in those photos, at least."

"Why are you so intent on shooting me down every time I defend him?"

"Because he doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt."

"Yeah, well what about me? Aren't I worthy of trust? Don't you trust me?"

"But…"

"Has my instinct ever been wrong before? Please, Ayako. Please, everyone. Just let him find me."

The air was silent. All eyes were on her, all of them either hesitant or clueless. Eventually, someone stepped forward. "All right, Mai."

"Madoka?"

"I believe you."

Everyone's eyes were now on the strawberry-haired woman. She had a serious expression on her face. It was almost as if she was daring someone to challenge her. But everyone knew just how intuitive and knowledgeable she was. Nobody dared. "All right. So we'll wait for the guy to come to us. Objections? No? Good."

"Madoka, I don't–"

"Ah-ah," Madoka interrupted. "We are going to trust Mai on this one, 'kay Oliver?" To that, Naru sighed, turning away in defeat.

"Thanks, Madoka," Mai said.

"No problem."

"But wait," Masako spoke up. "If this Jack is going to follow Mai's scent, her scent is the strongest…"

Mai's hands flew to her head in realization. "My apartment!" She grabbed her coat and dashed out the door.

"Mai, wait up!" Takigawa exclaimed, running after her. Ayako started to dash after him, but Naru stopped her.

"We can't all leave. Takigawa can handle that thing if it's dangerous, which Madoka says isn't." He glared at said woman, who smiled in return. "I'm choosing to trust you and Mai on this. And for Mai's sake, you'd better be right."

* * *

><p>Takigawa's car screeched to a halt in front of Mai's building. It was nothing special, but it wasn't any old shack either. Both of them went inside and up the stairs to Mai's apartment. Mai unlocked the door, calling for Jack as she did so. Takigawa tensed, ready for anything to happen. The only thing he did not expect was for her apartment to be completely intact.<p>

"Is he just not here yet?" Mai asked, moving about the small apartment building. She sat on the sofa, not bothering to stifle a yawn.

Takigawa looked at her. "Didn't get much sleep last night, did you?"

"Dreams," she replied.

Takigawa blinked before nodding and sitting next to her. He leaned back in the couch cushion. "I hope Kenji's okay. I wonder what he saw."

Mai looked downcast. There was that, but there was also… what she experienced firsthand. She wanted to tell someone, but it wasn't her story to tell. It wasn't her story to see- at least, not before Lin was ready to let others know. However, if she would let herself, Monk would be the optimal choice.

Speaking of Monk… "Something on your mind, kid?"

She yawned again. "Just dreams."

He nodded. His eyes betrayed nothing as he continued, "You usually don't give your dreams this much thought unless something happens to _you_." Mai looked up at him questioningly. "Like during the Urado case- you thought about your dream all throughout the day. But the dreams where you saw the foxfires in Yasu's high school, or the woman's child lured off in that other case, you stopped thinking about them much faster."

"Monk, it's only been an hour since breakfast."

"My point still stands."

"It's only been a fourth of a day."

"You've been thinking about it intensely for this past fourth of a day."

"I'm not saying another word."

"So you admit that you had a different dream!" Monk said, now looking her in the eyes.

"Some things I just don't have the right to say," Mai replied, echoing what Gene had told her that one time.

Monk tilted his head. "Like what? As Naru said: since when have your dreams been meaningless?"

"Oh yeah? So what if I dreamed that a still-living person was raped? If you were that person, would you want someone spilling it for all to hear?"

Monk grasped Mai's shoulders. "You dreamed someone was raped?"

"Hypothetical, Monk."

Mai's complete shut-up-you-idiot expression convinced him that at least that part was truth. He leaned back again. "Okay, fine, I get your point. But I still don't see why you should keep it from us if it's related to the case."

"I never said it was."

Monk took a breath. He didn't like what he was doing, but, "Okay, fine. I'll stop pressing. But if it comes up again, I won't drop it."

"Thanks, Monk." Mai yawned again.

Takigawa looked down at her before getting up. "Why don't you stretch out and take a nap? You may see something else. I can call the others and tell them what's going on."

"I kind of wish that wasn't the truth," Mai said lying down. Monk looked at her in confusion. "I get tired of my dreams. Can't I have a peaceful sleep once in a while?"

"Well, when we're on a case, we need all the information we can get."

"Yeah, I know." She closed her eyes.

_Gene was there. He was smiling sweetly. She was lying on the ground of the spiritual plane, with the calming white spirit lights floating around her._

"_Have you seen Kenji? Or John?" Mai asked tiredly. Gene shook his head. If she hadn't been so tired, she would have tilted her head in confusion. Maybe this was one of those dreams where Gene just didn't say anything. Oh well, it happened._

_Gene put a palm to her forehead. Mai's eyelids became heavy. "What are you doing, Gene?" she asked._

"_Rest," he said. Her eyes closed, and she fell into a dreamless, restoring slumber._

She woke to the sound of an alarm. She jumped off of the sofa only to find Monk at the window. It also looked as though he had raided her fridge, as he was helping himself to a sandwich of some kind. Red and white lights passed outside. She walked up to the window just to see the edge of a large, red truck turn a corner.

"Gee, where's the fire?" she asked. Monk jumped and fell backwards in his chair. Mai ducked aside to avoid his flailing limbs.

"Sheesh, don't sneak up on me like that!" he exclaimed as he righted himself.

Mai giggled. "Sorry, Monk." She looked around. "What time is it?"

"It's about four-o-clock."

"Well, Jack hasn't shown up yet. From the pictures we saw, he was in the city, so I don't see what's taking him so long."

"Hey, maybe you were just wrong on this one. It happens."

Mai shook her head. "I'm not wrong. He's coming."

"Mai, we need to get back to the church. Naru called in while you were sleeping. He has another plan, and we can't do it without you. If Jack really wants to find you, then he'll come to the church. Or something. We have monitors up; we'll see him if he does."

Mai paused, thinking Monk's proposition over. Then she nodded.

"Good. Hop in the car; I'm going to call Naru and tell him we're on our way back."

* * *

><p>By now, Lin had staggered his way into the more patrolled areas of the suicide forest (it was a miracle he hadn't staggered into a cave). The forest paths and pieces of tape clearly marked the way back to civilization. Wu, feeling his master's weakness, put a little more oomph in his energizing heat.<p>

"Hey! You! What are you doing here?"

Lin's head tilted towards the voice. Everything was starting to get fuzzy. Wu's worry was growing. A person approached. He was wearing a blue uniform of sorts. A dog started to bark at him. He dazedly reached out a hand to the German shepherd, but it wouldn't stop barking at him. He put his hand back on his wooden cane. The man in blue seemed to realize that the person his dog was barking at was not all there in the head.

"Sir, are you all right?"

"I… I need to get… SPR."

"Wait, are you Koujo Lin, of Shibuya Psychic Research?"

Lin was slightly confused. How did this complete stranger know his name? Nevertheless, he nodded. Then he lost his balance and toppled to the ground, out cold.

* * *

><p>Small note- just to be on the safe side and avoid confusion. The Shiki are:<p>

Kai– wood (green)  
>Wu– fire (orange)<br>Rokku– earth (yellow)  
>Long– metal (silver)<br>Take– water (blue)

Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**.o0o.**

Takigawa knew he wasn't going to like this car ride. Ayako wasn't making it easy, either. According to Naru and Mai, they would both feel safer if there was a monitor in Mai's apartment just in case Jack came by. However, they had no monitors to spare. All of the ones not in use were at the office, and since Lin and John were still missing, Yasu, Masako, and Mai couldn't afford to leave the church, and Naru was Naru, it was up to the two of them to go get the equipment.

They had hit some rather impressive traffic (and "impressive," in this case, means "absolutely horrible"), and they were now crawling along at five miles an hour. Monk had tried numerous times to play the radio, but Ayako had insisted on turning it off every time he did so. It was frustrating. However, their frustration turned to absolute horror as they turned the corner. Right there, a few streets down, was the SPR building. And right there, surrounding it, were three bright red fire trucks, several firefighters, several more sawhorses, and smoke. Lots of it. Traffic was being directed in several directions. Throughout all of the chaos, Takigawa managed to pull over his vehicle and step out, Ayako following suit. They ran up to the sawhorses.

"Hey! Don't come any closer!" yelled a firefighter.

"What happened?" Ayako exclaimed.

"A fire broke out in this building!"

"I can see that! I mean _how_ did it happen?"

"We won't know until the fire is put out, ma'am."

"How long will that take?"

The three of them looked back at the building. Jets of water were shot high above the flames, creating a mist that rained down upon the entire thing. That's when it occurred to them. They shared the building with other tenants.

"Did everyone make it out okay?" Takigawa asked.

"As far as we're aware, yes," the firefighter replied. "Is there anyone still in there to your knowledge?"

"We just got here. We wouldn't know."

"Do you live here?"

"No, it's an office building. We work here."

"Do you know the other tenants?"

The monk and the miko shook their heads. The fireman nodded. He then ran off to stop someone else from getting too close. A few more firemen stepped towards the sawhorses. Another fire truck rounded the corner, but it was having trouble getting through the masses of cars. The horn went off, blasting uncomfortably through Takigawa and Ayako's eardrums. They took that as their signal to move away from the chaos. They knew right off the bat that they weren't going to be driving out of there; nobody in Tokyo would be nice enough to allow a car that was pulled over into their lane, especially in this kind of situation. So Takigawa locked up his car and shuffled through the gathering crowds, Ayako right on his heels. He took out his phone and began to call Naru.

* * *

><p>The phone rang, annoyingly loudly on the table. Mai picked it up.<p>

"Hey Monk, what's up?" she asked.

"Mai? Put Naru on. Hurry," said the voice on the other end.

"Uh, okay." Confused but unwilling to pry, she extended the phone out towards her boss. "Naru, Monk wants to talk to you. It sounds urgent."

Naru swiped the phone and put it swiftly to his ear. "What, Monk?" The voice on the other end said something, but Mai couldn't hear what it said from where she was. Naru's eyes widened. "What? Are you serious?"

"What? What is it?" Mai asked. Naru continued to ignore her.

"What happened? …I see. Come back to the church. We'll regroup there." There was another pause. "Get a cab or something- I'll take care of the fare- just get back here! You can worry about your car later… If it gets towed, I'll pay for it." And just as quickly as he sped through that conversation, he hung up. He stared off with dread-filled eyes.

"What happened, Naru?" Mai asked again.

"The SPR building caught fire."

"No way!" Yasu exclaimed, leaping out of his seat at the monitors.

At the same time, Mai also yelled, "Fire? How bad?"

"Monk said it engulfed the entire building. There's very little chance that anything will make it out of there in working condition. I don't really care about that part, though. Everything is insured."

"But what caused it?"

"They don't know."

"Where are Ayako and Takigawa?" Yasu asked.

"They got stuck in the traffic close to the building," Naru replied. "They'll be taking a cab back here. I guess that means twenty minutes." He took a deep breath. "There is no reason for us to stress about it. It's not like we can really do anything."

"Naru," Mai interrupted. "You said earlier that you had a second plan?"

Naru cast a glance at her. "Not necessarily a plan. Just more information. The entity takes people in their sleep."

Mai and Yasu's eyes widened. "How do you know?" Mai asked.

"The entity only strikes at night, and John was asleep when he was taken."

"But you also said we made it mad," Yasu countered. "Meaning it could've taken John just because of that."

Naru shook his head. "This isn't the first time they've attempted to attack this entity, if Father Tojo's word is anything to go by. However, this is the first time that one of the night watchers fell asleep on the job." He turned back to Mai. "This means, Mai, that you will sleep with a charm on you at all times." He passed her a strip of paper with a safety pin on it. "Stick this on your pajamas."

Mai gave the charm an irritated look. _Really, Naru?_

"Yes, really," Naru said. Mai jumped. How did he…? "Your face is easier to read than a child's book." Mai scowled before turning around to leave. "Where are you going?" Naru interrupted.

"To my room to put this on my pajamas."

"I'll go with you."

"Really, Naru. Our room is just across the hall."

"Time enough for something to happen."

"But you said that the thing comes to people in their _sleep_, Naru, not awake."

"There are several things putting us in danger at the present. I am not leaving you alone."

Mai was about to retort when she caught sight of Yasu in the background. He had a finger pressed up against his lips, silently telling Mai to shut up. He pointed sideways and winked. It took a second for Mai to realize what the college student was saying to her, but eventually it clicked. It was certainly evident that it did by the blush that crept up on her face. She had to muster all of her strength just to stop from slapping herself.

"Yasu, you can stop any time now," Naru said. Yasu let loose a sigh, shoulders sinking. "As a matter of fact, you can get back to work."

"Yes sir," Yasu said, moving back to the monitors. Naru and Mai left the room. They walked in silence, Mai sneaking glances at Naru every few seconds. Naru pretended not to notice, and Mai pretended not to notice Naru pretending not to notice. Although it was obvious that this game of deadpan charades wasn't going to go very far- mainly because her room was right in front of them now. She entered her room, opened her drawer, and pinned the charm to her pink flower-print pajamas before turning back to Naru.

"Done?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. The two of them exited the room and returned to base.

* * *

><p>A van pushed through the sea of other vehicles, finally stopping next to a sawhorse. A fireman clad in yellow approached. "Please move on. It's not safe here."<p>

The door opened. A woman came out, dressed in a T-shirt and some kind of leggings. Whatever she was wearing, it was far too cold out for it. "Excuse me," she started. The fireman blinked. "I'm afraid I'm a little lost. Could you please point me in the direction of the film studio?"

"Ma'am, this is an extremely hazardous environment, and you are compromising the safety of everyone here. Please, ask someone else not in the area."

"Yeah, but I need to get to my film studio." She took out her phone with a map pulled up and shoved it in his face.

"Ma'am, I will not ask you again. Leave the premises–"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" came a cry from behind the twosome. They turned around to see a couple of firefighters chasing after what looked like a person clad in a purple cloak running through the restricted area. The fireman standing by the woman ran over as well, and she, job completed, got back in the van and closed the door. She put the pedal to the metal, barreling through the sawhorses and driving inches in front of the man in purple's face. The back doors of the van flew open and a hand shot out, grabbing him and yanking him in. The doors slammed closed and the van darted around a corner. The firemen struggled to regain order from the chaos as a cop car set off in hot pursuit.

Inside the van, the adrenaline was pumping like mad.

"Did you get it?" the woman asked.

"Yeah," the man replied. He then turned to a person kneeling in the back of the van, eyes shrouded by the long hood of her robe. He placed a small, charred reddish-purple object in her hands. "Is this what you sensed?"

"Yes," the woman replied. Her voice betrayed her old age. "This is the scale of our demon." She bowed her head, as if in a trance. She clutched the scale in her hand, almost as if she were trying to break it. "He is no longer here. He's headed southeast."

"On it," said the much more youthful woman in the driver's seat, once again hitting the gas. Suddenly, she turned the corner and ducked the entire thing into an alleyway as a police car whirred past them.

The car skidded to a halt and turned around. The window rolled down. "Come out of the van with your hands where I can see them!" one of the cops yelled.

The woman in the driver's seat sighed. "They should know by now that that only works in those cop shows."

"That's not true," the man in the back said.

"Shut up," the woman snapped before turning her attention back on the cops, foolishly exiting their car. "Time to teach these government slobs a lesson." She floored it.

* * *

><p>Everyone was sitting solemnly at base. Well, there wasn't going to be much left of the SPR building when they got back.<p>

"But what puzzles me is how such a fire got started in the first place," Monk said. "I mean fires don't completely engulf a building without someone _noticing_, and by noticing, I mean calling the fire department so that they can stop it."

"I just can't believe that the building is gone," Mai said. "One minute it's there, the next it's not."

"At least none of us were inside," Madoka added.

"Thank goodness," Mai replied, putting her palm to her forehead. That's when a cellphone began to ring.

"Hello?" Madoka asked, putting the thing to her ear. Everyone watched as her face elated. "Really? Where is he?" There was a pause as she listened, eyes darting around to meet everyone else's. "Okay. Sakakibara… Thank you so much." She hung up. She looked at everyone else. "He's at Sakakibara Memorial Hospital."

"Who, Lin?" Mai asked. Madoka nodded.

"Is he okay?" Takigawa added.

"They didn't give me details. But let's go!" With that, the strawberry-haired woman dashed for the door. Several others followed, with a few of them (Yasu, Masako, and Naru) just a little hesitant.

Ayako noticed this and turned around. "Problem, Naru?" she asked, stopping everyone else.

"Someone should stay here in case something else happens," Naru replied.

"I can stay behind," Yasu said. "You can go."

"And would you know what to do _if_ something happened?" Naru countered.

"I've been working with you for a year now. I know these things."

"But you can't use magic."

Yasu smiled. "I don't need to know magic, since this entity is scared off by the mere presence of an awake adult."

Naru shook his head. "Still unacceptable. Someone has to stay with you."

"I can," Masako volunteered. "You go, Naru."

Ayako watched the scene suspiciously. She waved off the rest of the others, who, more hesitantly now, went to Madoka's car. She stepped forward to the threesome. "Is there some reason why you don't want to see Lin?" There was a pause. After seeing that Naru would not be responding anytime soon, Ayako scoffed and ran after the group.

Masako put a hand to her mouth. "Is something going on between you two?" Suddenly she blushed, realizing her implication. "I don't mean romantically, I… uh…" Naru's stare straight into her eyes clearly read, "_not helping your case_."

"There's nothing the matter with me and Lin," he said. "I just have a bad feeling about this."

"What kind of feeling?"

The two of them were interrupted by the sound of a car pulling out of the parking lot. Naru looked out the window to see Madoka and crew driving off toward Sakakibara. He turned away to face Masako again, who was watching him intently.

"What was that?" Yasu exclaimed, snapping their attention towards him. He was facing the monitors, staring in astonishment.

"What did you see?" Masako asked.

"See for yourselves." Yasu pressed a button on the computer and the video rewound. He pressed play. Madoka's car drove first out of the parking lot and onto the street. Then on the parking lot monitor, a small blur appeared in the upper left corner. Just as soon as it appeared, it vanished. Then on the monitor facing the street, that same blur was clearly shown darting in the same direction as Madoka's car.

"Play it frame by frame," Naru said. Yasu did so. In the first monitor, it appeared as if the blur was about to enter the parking lot, but it made a different decision and turned around. The second tape revealed nothing– the cameras were incapable of enhancing anything, so they were pretty much at a loss for what it was.

"You don't think it was this Jack person, do you?" Yasu asked.

"Whatever it is, I need to give them a call." Naru picked up the cellphone. He dialed Madoka's number. It rang a few times before it picked up.

"What is it, Oliver?" Madoka asked cheerily before adding, "You're on speaker."

"Madoka, you're being followed."

The atmosphere inside the car immediately thickened.

"By who?" Takigawa asked.

"I don't know. Our best guess is Jack."

"Jack!" Mai exclaimed.

"Don't be hasty, Mai. We couldn't tell what it was based on monitor feed. It could be anything. Until we know what it is, _don't let it catch you_."

"It has to be Jack!" Mai insisted.

Ayako, who was sitting in the passenger seat, adjusted the rear view mirror. In its reflection she saw, not a reptile crossed with a can opener, but a purple van. She addressed the rest of them. "Anyone you know?" Her hand violently pulled back as the van pulled up beside them, smashing the mirror clean off. Everyone looked to their right, staring at the hidden eyes of the driver in the large vehicle. Suddenly, Madoka hit the breaks. The driver of the van wasn't paying attention, and the purple vehicle ploughed straight through the red light. Several cars racing through the intersection skidded to halt, horns blaring, as the van bolted through. It stopped, turned around, and charged at Madoka again.

"Hold on tight!" Madoka yelled.

"Wait, what are you…" Takigawa had no time to finish his thought as the car veered off to the left, just barely missing getting grazed by the purple van again. The car raced down the main street, followed by the van. Then, Madoka took a breath. She whirled into the opposite lane, where cars all began to swerve to dodge her, meanwhile, running straight on a collision course with the van behind them (as well as each other).

"Are you insane!" Ayako hollered.

"Madoka, look out!" Mai screeched, pointing straight ahead. There was a huge lorry coming their way, and it had no way to stop or dodge them. Madoka, sharp as a flint, swerved the wheel. They were struck driver's side, but it wasn't anything too bad. The car was still functional, and all they needed to worry about were their incredibly fast heart rates (as well as minor bruising). The van dodged the lorry with equivalent skill, charging straight at them.

"What the hell do they want?" Takigawa yelled.

"How the hell should I know?" Madoka demanded, flooring it once again.

"Watch out!" Ayako screamed. A car going the opposite direction had swerved into to a stop in a sideways position between lanes, in an attempt to avert crashing into the stopped lorry. Madoka hit the brakes, but to just their luck, they happened to hit black ice. They were going to crash. Suddenly, the car in front of them was launched several feet into the air, out of their way. Madoka floored it once again, bolting down the street. Everyone else looked through the rear window to see a raisin-colored reptilian with blades on its arms chasing after them.

"Jack!" Mai exclaimed. "Look, it's Jack!"

"Where's the van?" Ayako asked, only for the van to come careening down another street into the intersection they were currently driving through. Madoka just barely avoided taking the hit. Jack was right behind them, in perfect position to take the hit instead. He didn't. He jumped high in the air, coming crashing down onto the roof of Madoka's car. Madoka swerved. The roof of the car suddenly jerked, and a hole was ripped into it. Through the hole dipped Jack's head and neck, upside down eyes staring intently at Mai. He paid no attention as Ayako and Takigawa screamed their heads off. He merely opened his mouth to reveal his sets of razor-sharp teeth. However, Mai easily recognized it as an ecstatic grin. She didn't receive him yet, and turned backward. The van was nowhere in sight. Madoka turned a corner and then another corner into an alleyway. She finally stopped the car and put it in park. That was everyone's cue to take a deep breath. Jack got off the vehicle and waited for Mai to receive him.

She scrambled out of the door and ran up to him. She didn't hug him, for she had never seen him in person. Instead, she stood in front of him, waiting for him to do something. Madoka, Takigawa, and Ayako watched, apprehensive, and ready to spring into action should the beast attack. Instead, it cooed and nudged the young psychic.

"Hi, Jack," Mai said, cupping his muzzle in her hands. He nickered at her, eyes squeezed shut in delight at her touch. The other car doors opened, and Jack's eyes became deadly. He backed up a bit, flexing the blades on his arms and baring his teeth. "No, Jack, those are my friends!" Mai said, putting herself in between him and them. Jack's aggression turned to confusion as he stared at her.

"Ayako, what are you doing?" Takigawa asked.

"Hello, we were just chased down by mystery people in a purple van," she said. "I'm calling the police." And as if on cue, white, blue, and red lights approached.

"No need," Madoka said. Jack lowered his head again, growling softly at the approaching vehicles.

Some of the cops got out of the cars wielding guns. "Hands up, all of you!" they said, which the humans complied with. Jack, however, did not stop snarling or baring his teeth. The majority of their guns were trained on him.

"What the hell is that?" one of the cops shrieked.

"Biggest damn sewer gator I've ever seen. Call animal control."

Mai deadpanned. _Animal control? Really?_

"Please, officers," Madoka began. "We were chased by a purple van. They knocked my mirror clean off."

"Then where is this purple van?" a cop shot back.

Mai sighed. _Three. Two. One._ A cop car went flying. All officers turned their attention to the purple van dashing through the scene. It skidded to a halt, facing inward to the alley. Jack raised his head, looking at it curiously.

"Get out of the van with your hands up!" the cops said. The people inside looked as if they were having a conversation, never once letting their eyes stray from the scene in front of them. Then the van bolted. Several police got into their cars and ran off in pursuit. The remaining police turned to the five in the alleyway.

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to place you under arrest."

"Well… great," Madoka sighed as the police came up to cuff her. "This is going to make a _lovely_ story to tell the professors."

"What about the rest of us?" Ayako asked.

Another officer walked up to them. "Just some questions, ma'am." Ayako nodded. "What happened here?"

"The purple van chased us. We were trying to lose them."

"Do you know what they wanted?" The cop asked. Ayako shook her head. "Where were you going originally?"

"Sakakibara hospital. We were visiting a colleague."

The cop then pointed to Jack, whose growling intensified. "What is that?"

Ayako hesitated. "Mai?"

"Its name is Mai?"

"No, that's me," Mai said, stepping forward. "This is Jack, my friend. He won't hurt you." The cop looked up at Jack's growling face and gave the girl a "yeah, right," expression. "He won't," Mai insisted. She stopped when a hand fell on her shoulder. She looked up at Takigawa, who was clearly telling her not to push her luck.

That's when yet _another_ vehicle pulled up to the scene. It was a white van with a logo on the sides. It was animal control. They got out of the van with catchpoles and duct tape.

"You called about a gator?" one of them asked. The police could only point. Their jaws fell. "What the hell _is_ that thing?" The one with a catchpole asked. He didn't wait for a reply. "Get the tranquilizer!"

A woman entered and exited the white van, now with a tranquilizer gun. She aimed it right at Jack and fired.

"No!" Mai screamed. Swiftly, Jack pulled up his arm and blocked the incoming syringe with his blades. Then he took a flying leap upward, grasping onto a fire escape, and disappearing over the building.

"After it," said the one with the catchpole. They got back in their van and sped off.

"No, he's not a threat!" Mai exclaimed.

"You seem to know what he is, miss… Mai, was it?" the female cop asked, snapping her attention back to her.

Mai shook her head, not really paying attention. "I have to go after him!"

The cop's gaze sharpened. "Why?" She shook her head again, and she attempted to run past the cop. The cop grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Let me go!"

"If you don't stop, I'm going to have to place you under arrest for obstructing an investigation."

"What?" Mai exclaimed.

"Mai, don't push it," Takigawa said.

Mai sighed. But what was she supposed to tell the police? That this creature visited her in her dreams for the past two months? They'd think she was crazy. Or crazier. Unless she explained to them… "We are Shibuya Psychic Research," she said, pulling out the SPR's business card. "It's our job to hunt ghosts and paranormal anomalies. That is the subject of one of our cases."

"Mai, what are you doing?" Takigawa hissed.

"It's the truth, isn't it?" Mai replied, staring up at him with unassuming brown eyes.

"It's the truth!" called Madoka from the back of a cop car.

The cop sighed. "I don't like it, but I'll let it go for now." She closed her eyes, massaging her forehead, before assuming a much more relaxed stance. "Now, you three were headed to the hospital? I can take you."

"You would do that?" Takigawa asked.

"Sure. Not like you'd get anywhere with _that_ thing anymore," she said, motioning to the beaten down automobile. She let out a chuckle. "It's going to get towed anyway."

And so that's how Ayako, Takigawa, and Mai were ferried to the hospital in the back of a police car, confusing several people at the lack of an ambulance or an injured person. It must've made quite the scene. They remained ambivalent to the curious look they were getting and approached the front desk.

"Hello, we're here to visit Koujo Lin," said Takigwawa.

The attendant looked through her computer before saying, "He's in room 7-12."

"Thank you," Mai said as they got into the elevator. It started to ascend, but then suddenly, it stopped. The lights flickered before they went out completely.

"You've got to be kidding me," Takigawa muttered.

"Might as well give Naru a call. Let him know what's happened," Ayako mused. She took out her phone and dialed. "Hello Naru… we were chased by a purple van… they've already contacted you? Good. Yeah, Madoka did get arrested… Yes, we're at the hospital now. We're stuck in an elevator." Suddenly, the lights came right back on, and the elevator began moving again. "Oh, never mind, it started–" The doors opened upon pure chaos. Nurses and doctors were running to and fro, several of them on cellphones, calling what seemed to be the cops. "I'll have to call you back," Ayako said.

"What's going on?" Takigawa demanded of a passing nurse.

"Evacuate the building! It is extremely dangerous here!" she said.

An airy shriek came from one of the rooms.

"Jack!" Mai exclaimed.

"Jack?" Takigawa and Ayako echoed. They ran towards the noise, completely ignoring all of the staff members trying to stop them. When they approached the source of the sound, they did not miss the room number: 7-12. The door was wide open, and it looked as though the hinges had taken a beating. Inside, however, was the true scene. There stood Jack, body positioned defensively over the hospital bed–over Lin– facing a group of people in purple robes. They had firebrands with them, aiming them all at the creature. Lin was wide-awake, although seemingly unsure of what to focus on. Jack, upon seeing Mai, let his guard drop. The purple men took that chance to approach with the firebrand. One of them was able to jab the thing into his right spiracle, causing him to recoil violently. His jaw snapped down on the person's head, and with a swift movement, the man was sent hurtling out of the already broken window to his death.

"What are you doing?" Mai screeched. The stranger closest to her suddenly reached out and grasped her arms in preparation to attack. Jack went berserk. He rammed his head straight into the man that grabbed Mai before slipping his muzzle in between her legs. Mai squeaked in shock. With one jerk, Jack launched her up onto his back. He turned around swiftly, causing his tail to bat into the other people before grabbing Lin in his jaws. Ayako and Takigawa saw what the creature was about to do.

"Mai!" Ayako yelled. There was nothing she could do. Jack leaped out of the window. He landed on an adjacent rooftop, running north.

"After him!" ordered one of the purple people.

"Yes, sir!" came the voices of others. They barreled past Ayako and Takigawa, not even registering their attempts to stop them.

"You two will be coming with us."

"No, we won't!" Takigawa growled, readying himself for a fight. That was swiftly put to an end as a gun's barrel was put in his face.

"Yes, you will."

"Drop it!" came yet another voice. Everyone turned to the door to see even more policemen, guns aimed at the purple clad gunman. This had to have been the record for most policemen seen in the span of an hour. The gunman made a swift movement, grabbing Takigawa and putting the gun to his temple.

"Make me," he growled.

One of the cops picked up his radio. "We've got a hostage situation here."

The gun cocked. "Don't move. I _will_ shoot him." The police tensed. Ayako stood by, watching, wracking her brain for options. Suddenly, an idea came to her. She lifted her hand, extending two fingers. "What the hell are you doing, lady?"

And then, very softly, she murmered, "Rin. Pyou. Tou. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen." The man holding the gun to Monk froze. Ayako calmly walked up to him and took the gun from his hand. And then, holding it by the barrel, she passed it on to the police, watching in astonishment. It took a minute for the cop to register that she was giving him something, and when it did, he numbly took it. Takigawa cautiously weaved out from the man holding onto him and stood by Ayako. Suddenly, said man gasped for air and lurched forward.

The cop stepped forward and placed him in handcuffs. There was a bang. A voice cried out. Everyone looked around furiously for the sound. That's when Ayako saw one of the other purple clad men with a gun pointed into the wall, as well as several cops turned around to the exact same spot, but on the other side. The man had shot a bullet through the thin hospital wall and had incapacitated one of the police force. However, it seemed as though the police were still having trouble figuring out what went wrong. They had taken their attention off of the purple clad people.

Takigawa sensed what was about to happen. "Take cover!" he shouted. He pulled Ayako down behind the hospital bed as a shootout began. The cops facing the wrong way ended up with bullets to the back. The others with faster reflexes shot back. However, it was of no use. With the fallen bodies of their comrades blocking their paths, they were fighting a losing battle. They retreated, calling for backup. The purple clad people grabbed Ayako and Takigawa, bound their hands with duct tape, and shoved them towards the window. There, waiting below, was the familiar purple van. They, in the hands of their captors, were forced to jump down onto a fire escape a few feet below them. They were then led into the van, where their legs were bound and they were blindfolded. The van door closed, and it sped off down the street, just as more squad cars pulled up to the building.

* * *

><p>I would love to thank all who have read, left a review, followed, and favorited.<br>Thanks for sticking with me this far!  
>Galacticexplorer12<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

**.o0o.**

To tell the truth, they _really_ should have seen that one coming. Without the other three, Long and Kai were powerless. Wandering around Aokigahara was not a good thing for a lone spirit to be doing, especially in the dead of night.

"_Where is he?_" Kai grunted, whiskers twitching impatiently.

"_Kai, in case you haven't noticed, Aokigahara is _huge," Long replied, baring her teeth with equal impatience.

"_But… I can't sense the boss anywhere! What if… what if he got eaten by a bear?_"

"_What is it with you and bears, Kai?_"

"_Hey! I was originally a bear before I died._ _I am a bear spirit!_" he said, twirling around, arms outstretched whimsically.

"_Then why do you look like a dragon?_" Long countered.

"_Because dragons are cool._" Kai curled his body and put his hands on his hips. "_And coming from one of the fair folk, I could ask the same about you._ _Like why you don't look like a cute little pixie that sprinkles cinnamon all over the place._"

Long let out a snort before smacking Kai in the back of the head. "_The fair folk specialize in mischief and torture, so you can shut your mouth before I let out my true nature._"

"_Ooh, I'm soooo scared. If the boss were here, he'd have your head for saying that. And don't you think it's a bit ironic (pun intended) that the particular fairie in front of me wields the element of _metal_?_"

Long's body flashed a murderous shade of silver. Kai's little green eyes widened as he realized that her berserk button had been pushed. Long launched herself at Kai, unleashing weak bursts of metal energy. Metal, being wood's destructor in the elemental cycle was the perfect thing to kick Kai's tail with. The two of them rolled around in the dirt, their light briefly illuminating the invisible spirit forms of goblins and youkai inhabiting the forest. Said spirits looked on in curiosity as these two strangers fought themselves silly within their territory. However, slowly but surely, they began to turn their attention to something coming from the opposite direction. Long and Kai eventually picked up on this shift and stopped their fighting. They turned around, following the spirits' gazes.

"_H-hello?_" echoed a whimpering voice. Long and Kai watched curiously as a form took shape. A human male, young, wearing a blue coat, was pacing apprehensively through the spiritual plane of the forest. "_Daddy? Where did you go?_"

"_Hey… Isn't that…_" Kai needed to say no more. By the looks of Long's face, she recognized the child as well. It was that kid that mistook their boss for his father. Now what was his name again?

"_Hey, you, kid,_" Long said. The boy looked around before focusing on the silver dragon approaching him.

"_I know you,_" he said, pointing up at her. "_You are Mr. Lin's friend._"

The two of them then uttered in unison: "_Do you know where he is?_"

Kai flew up to the boy. "_Wait, why are _you_ looking for our boss_?"

"_I… I heard he was missing. I wanted to help look for him._"

Long and Kai exchanged glances. Long floated forward. "_But why come to Aokigahara? Did you hear that our master is here?_"

The boy nodded.

"_But you're a site bound spirit. How did you get all the way to Aokigahara?_"

He shook his head. "_I don't know. First I'm looking for my friends. The next, I can't see, and now I'm here._"

Long sighed. "_Do you mind if I try something?_" she asked. The boy blinked. Long did not wait for a response. She floated up to the boy's face and put both claws to his forehead.

"_No!"_

"_Kenji!"_

"_Don't listen!"_

"_Kenji, where are you?"_

"_Don't go!"_

_The boy– Kenji– was chasing after another child. The child was approaching a glowing object in the void of the spiritual plane. Other children were approaching too, but Kenji didn't recognize them. They disappeared one by one into the glowing object. Kenji ran towards the child–towards the glowing object– but the faster he ran, the farther the glowing thing seemed to get. And then, it let loose a flash of light. Kenji shielded his eyes from the burning illumination. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a canopy of trees, accompanied by the chirps of birds and the shimmer of fair folk and youkai as they stopped and stared at him._

Long removed her claws. Kenji looked down at her, curiously. It was obvious that he had no idea what she just did, but the emotions he was feeling were not so obvious.

"_What did you do?_" Kenji asked, eyes wide.

"_Don't worry. It was just telepathy. You're okay, aren't you?_" To Long, Kenji nodded. A loud growl made them turn their heads. Out of the bushes came a spider youkai and what looked like a tiger spirit.

"_Who are they?_" Kenji asked, jumping back several feet.

"_Kid, don't make sudden movements!_" Long shouted.

The tiger spirit stepped forward, growling. "_Who are you?_"

"_We do not intrude with malice. We are merely looking for what we lost,_" Long replied, bowing her head slightly.

"_Hey,_" Kai interrupted, jolly tone cutting through the tension like a knife. "_You wouldn't happen to have seen a guy about yay high, with a creepy forelock over the right side of his face?_"

Long shot him a sideways glance. "_If the boss heard you say that, he'd have your tongue for sure._"

Kai waved a claw dismissively. "_Oh, he's heard worse._" Then he morphed into his true bear spirit form. "_Now are you going to answer my question, or are you going to be lunch?_"

The spider opened its jaws threateningly. The tiger's hackles rose, but neither of them attacked. "_Your human friend wandered through our territory yesterday. He reeked of demon._"

"_Which way did he go?_" Long continued.

The spider raised a foreleg. "_That way,_" she said. Her leg pointed backward towards civilization. Long and Kai's eyes widened in hopeful realization, but it didn't last, as the spider had suddenly pounced on the metal shiki. Long suddenly grew to a much larger size, hardening her scales, in order to throw the spider youkai off. The tiger stared the large grizzly bear in the face. He took one swipe at Kai's nose, causing him to make pitiful whining sounds.

"_Don't eat me! I'm not tasty!_" he whimpered.

"_Get a hold of yourself, man!_" Long growled, tossing the spider into a tree.

Then the tree came to life. It held up the spider in tangled branches. "_Watch it, would 'ya?_" it growled, before throwing the limp arachnid off in another direction.

Long profusely bowed her head. "_Sorry, please forgive me…_"

Then the tree started laughing. It morphed back into the mischievous wood spirit known as Kai. "_You should see your face!_" he said between gasps.

"_When we get out of this, you are _so_ deader than dead._" That's when Long caught sight of the tiger charging from behind the bear spirit. She pointed, but before she could verbalize her warning, Kai offhandedly backhanded the cat.

"_Now let's get out of here,_" he said, tone now surprisingly serious. They began walking. But then they realized–

"_Kid?_" Long called into the forest. Nothing. Just chirping birds. "_Oh great._"

"_Well at least we know we're as bad of babysitters as the boss is,_" Kai mused.

"_Up here,_" came a voice. The two shiki looked up into a tree to see that Kenji had climbed up there while they were fighting down on the ground. The boy then jumped down from the tree in front of the spirits. "_So is Mr. Lin back at the church?_"

"_I don't know,_" Long said."_I can't sense him at all. But if that tiger's word is to be trusted, then we should probably be going. Huh. I wonder how Take and Rokku are doing._"

* * *

><p>"In the name of the father, son, and holy ghost, may God's grace always be among us–"<p>

CRASH!

Father Tojo whirled around. The people inside the church looked up. The stained glass in the giant, round window had shattered, fragmented twilight hues raining down inside the Lord's house. A reptilian beast with long limbs landed on top of some of the pews. The people sitting there had ducked as best as they could, but the creature seemed to be taking care not to injure anyone. Even its long, whip like tail was neatly out of the way. It then took another flying leap into the aisle before smashing through the main doors and running away.

Tojo stood there, numbly, barely registering the rising panic inside the church. "That was…"

The creature had taken a left turn and had now found itself among several children, most of whom were screaming and running away. One Mai Taniyama, rested on the creature's back, had spotted a monitor off to the edge of the playground. She waved at the camera profusely, making sure that Naru or Yasu saw her. The sound of approaching footsteps confirmed it.

"Mai! Lin!" Naru yelled. Mai jumped off of the creature's back easily, but Lin was still trapped inside its jaws. And embarrassingly enough, in a hospital gown. But this was no laughing matter.

Mai nudged the creature. "Okay, you can put him down now," she said. But the creature didn't respond. "Jack? Are you listening to me?" She tugged on his lower jaw, which was fastened tight to Lin's midsection. The creature wasn't focused on her at all. She hesitantly put a hand on his spiracle, but all she got in response was his tense breathing. She then noticed his eyes. They were focused not on her, but on the children, now all being corralled back into the building. "Jack, what is it?"

"Mai, move," Naru said. Mai turned around. Naru's hand was enveloped in qi.

"No, don't!" she exclaimed, but it was of no use. In one swift movement, Naru sprinted up to her and Jack, shoved her out of the way, and slammed his palm into the side of Jack's neck. Jack was knocked hard to the ground, now snapped out of his trance. Lin had been thrown from the reptile's jaws, and Naru was now hovering over him.

"Naru, you used your qi!" Mai continued. Her head whirled around as soon as Jack got up, but it was evident that she didn't know what to focus on.

"Thank you, Mai. I hadn't noticed," Naru replied, but his usual sarcastic tone was dampened with worry. Jack immediately began growling, but Naru's swift glare in his direction made him stop. Mai's jaw dropped. Jack tilted his head in confusion before craning it around, as if observing Naru from different angles. Then it clicked.

"Jack, this is Naru, Gene's twin brother," she said. Jack let out a snort before craning his neck towards the building. Mai followed his eyes to where the children were staring out of the windows at the scene before them.

"Lin, can you hear me?" Naru asked, snapping Mai back to the situation. She ran from Jack's side to Lin's, who was rising to his hands and knees. She thought she saw a hint of embarrassment in his expression. Truly, hospital gowns were not very flattering. Naru slung one of Lin's arms over his shoulders, hoisting them both up. Suddenly, the boy staggered and went limp. His qi. Lin, however, snapped into action and grabbed him. He wavered under the added pressure, but he did not fall. Instead, he went back to his knees. He looked up at Mai.

"Mai, help me."

"Okay… what should I do?"

"Take him inside."

"Hey!" came a voice. The two of them looked up to see Yasu running towards them. He immediately assessed the situation and supported Naru's limp form under his shoulders. Lin too, got up and stared at Yasu. Yasu's gaze suddenly shifted from to the tall man to behind him. He eyed the creature looking up at the building.

"Yasu, let's go," Lin said. Yasu snapped back to the present and began to carry Naru inside. Mai followed behind them. Jack saw that the girl was leaving, and he immediately got up to follow her, like a dog. He kept his muzzle down near Mai's ear. He stopped, though, when they approached the door. He was pretty big. His eyes stared down at the offending obstacle before sliding a long foreleg through the opening. He then turned his body sideways for his shoulders to fit though. Once that was done, he awkwardly pulled in his other forelimb before entering the building completely.

Meanwhile, Mai and Lin's jaws dropped. They thought that surely the creature would just barrel through the doorway, but Jack's cautious approach to enter without vandalizing anything took them completely by surprise.

"There," said Naru. Both of them turned to see the boy pushing off of Yasu. He wobbled a bit before finding his feet. He then touched a mirror on the wall. The burden of his exhaustion suddenly seemed to dissipate.

"I'm so glad that he and Gene were able to connect," Mai said. Lin remained impassive. She turned to him. "Wait, shouldn't you be in the hospital?"

That's when Lin remembered, too. Oh, and there was a monitor just down the hall, to keep his current attire immortalized on film. _After all of this is over, those tapes are getting burned._

"_I can oblige,_" Wu said, still clinging to Lin's neck. Lin didn't respond.

* * *

><p>The police had done a full search of the place. Mai had by now decided that turning cop sightings into a drinking game was now both legit and a death sentence for your liver (and you'd get arrested pretty quickly for intoxication). However, none of them found Jack, as it was quite easy for the limber creature to hide out on the high ledge on the church next to one of the statues. All they had to do was throw some toilet paper over him, and he looked like a gargoyle. A teepeed gargoyle. The hard part was actually getting him to do it. There had been a lot of yelling and blank stares. Wu couldn't really communicate with the guy; he was originally a kitsuné, and he didn't understand Jack's particular dialect. However, when Lin reported this (in a change of clothes that Yasu and Masako had graciously brought from his apartment), Naru had been quite interested.<p>

Jack was now sitting in the middle of base, watching intently as Naru circled him.

"So there are demonic dialects?" he mused. He got no response.

Mai leaned over to Yasu. "So what's Lin's apartment like?" she asked.

"You know how they say that everyone has hidden depths?" Yasu replied. Mai nodded. "Well, whoever said that was a dirty liar. Lin is as boring on the inside as he is on the outside. His place is so neat and orderly."

To that, Lin turned to them, shooting them what Mai could only guess was a warning glare.

"If I recall, the first thing you did was attempt to raid his fridge," Masako interrupted.

"Yeah, but I couldn't open it."

"He probably shiki locked it or something," Yasu mused.

"Smart guy," Mai replied.

"Hey!" retorted Yasu.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Lin looked up. Masako seemed to sense what he had sensed, since she too looked where he was looking.

"What is it, Lin?" Naru asked.

"Some of my shiki have returned. Two of them." He then addressed them directly. "_Long, Kai, where have you been?_"

"_Heh, where haven't we been?_" Kai replied. Lin shot him a disapproving glare.

"_We were looking in Aokigahara for you, but instead we found that kid you got stuck with when you were last here._"

"Kenji?" Lin blurted. Everyone stopped and stared at him. "My shiki saw Kenji in Aokigahara forest," he explained.

"How did he get there?" Mai asked. There was a pause.

"They say that he had followed a bunch of children on the spiritual plane, came across a glowing entity, and woke up in the forest."

"What kind of entity?"

Lin shook his head. "I don't know. It wasn't clear. The image wasn't clear."

"But where is Kenji now?" Yasu asked. In response, a vaguely humanoid shape materialized. It appeared to wave before disappearing. Mai was the only one who waved back at it.

There was a pause. Then Naru spoke up. "Masako, are you up to performing a séance?"

"Yes, I am," Masako replied.

"Are we channeling Kenji?" Mai asked.

"Yes. He obviously knows something that we don't, and it's best if we hear it straight from his own mouth."

"Wait," Yasu interrupted. Everyone turned to him. "Wasn't Kenji mute during his living… err… life?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean he's mute now," Masako replied. "I agree with Naru; channeling Kenji is our best bet." She turned to said person. "I'm ready when you are."

"All right. Let's get started."

The lights went off. Everyone was seated around a low table where a candle was lit. Jack was pushed into the corner of the room to make room for everyone else. He watched the scene curiously. Everything was silent, save for the soft pitter pat of rain on the window. Masako closed her eyes. She breathed, and the candle flickered. There was a brief moment before the candle flickered again, except without Masako doing anything to it.

"Kenji?" Mai asked.

Masako gasped, but she did not open her eyes. Her head raised as if she were looking straight at the girl who called his name.

"Kenji, is that you?" Naru continued.

"Y-yes," replied Masako's voice. Her head scanned the room. She settled on Lin. "Daddy?" She got up and repositioned herself in front of him.

"Not this again," Lin muttered, putting a hand to his face. "Kenji, I'm not your father."

Masako paused. "Then you're Mr. Lin." She looked down. "I don't know if Miss Mai told you, but I'm sorry for before."

Lin seemed somewhat surprised. and perhaps a little touched. Nevertheless, he nodded his acceptance. Kenji nodded as well.

"Kenji," said Naru. Masako turned to him. "Can you tell us what happened right before you woke up in the forest?"

Masako put a hand to her chin, lost in thought. "There were a bunch of other children. They were walking towards a funny light."

"Where did they come from?" Naru interrupted.

Masako shrugged. "They just appeared."

"Where? On the spiritual plane?"

She tilted her head.

Mai chose to step in. "The place with all of the white lights floating around," she explained. A look of recognition passed over Masako's face. She nodded.

"And this light," Naru said, causing the two to turn back to him. "Did you detect any unusual qualities?" The look of recognition faded, replaced by confusion.

"Naru, he's a kid. He doesn't understand you," Mai muttered. She turned to Masako's body. "He asked you what the light looked like."

"It was all fuzzy. And bright. It was a big floating light."

"How big?" Naru asked.

"Um… bigger than me."

"How much bigger?"

"Mr. Lin's height," Kenji said, pointing at Lin for emphasis.

Mai tilted her head. "So it didn't look like a carnival tent?"

Everyone in the room turned to her.

"Mai, what do you know?" Naru demanded.

Mai shook her head. "Nothing. I only saw it that one time… when I was asleep for two days. Remember?"

"Why did you bring that up again, though?"

"What do you mean?"

"What connection did you draw to find that relevant to our situation right now?"

"Well, let's see…" She lifted her head in thought. "Only children were entering the tent. There were no adults. The tent was glowing yellow." She turned to Kenji. "Was the light glowing yellow?"

"No. It was bright, like those lights," Masako's voice said, pointing upwards to the fluorescent lights, currently turned off.

"Oh," Mai said, shoulders sinking.

"Daddy?" came Masako's voice again. Lin became alert in that annoyed sense. Everyone else had perked up due to Kenji's sudden shift in subject. "Daddy, I'm just talking to the side kicks."

"That's 'psychics,' kid…" Yasu muttered from the sidelines.

"You ain't no psychic, Yasu," Mai retorted quietly. Yasu stuck out his tongue at her. She deadpanned at him. "Real mature." To which he grinned. Out of the corner of her eye, Mai saw Lin nod to some invisible force. She turned questioningly to him. Then his shoulders slumped. He reanimated.

"Kenji, thank God," he said, embracing Masako's body. Yasu looked floored.

"Welcome to the world of the SPR, where even a man like Lin can become interesting to spirits," Mai said.

Naru took back control of the scene. "Mister… Uh…" And for once, Naru seemed to be at a loss for a proper word.

Lin shook his head. "Doesn't matter." He suddenly fixated on yet another invisible entity. "Who are you?" he asked.

"That's Long, daddy," Masako said.

"Long?" Mai whispered to Naru.

"One of Lin's shiki," Naru replied. He then turned back to Lin. "Why are you possessing my colleague?"

"Because I have something I need to say." He waited for the signal to continue. He took their silence as just that. "You're being watched."

The remaining members of the SPR froze as a blast of thunder sounded. Lin's hand pointed to the window. They all turned, expecting to see someone peeping in. What they did not expect was a small flash of red right in the corner of the windowsill. It was some kind of spy-cam. The light dimmed as soon as whoever behind it realized that it had been spotted.

"Daddy?" Masako's body asked.

"It's waiting for you outside," Lin's body continued.

"Who?" Naru demanded.

Lin put his hand to his stomach. He drew it back, looking at his palm. "Are you aware that your friend is–" He pitched forward. Mai and Naru jumped up to catch him. Both had thrown an arm under his torso, and when the blood seeped through their clothing, they realized what had happened. Kenji's father had overexerted Lin's body, and had now been forced from it.

"Daddy?" Masako's body whispered before her shoulders slumped.

Masako opened her eyes, oblivious to her surroundings. "What happened?" she asked, somewhat in a daze. Nobody was where he or she had been when the séance first started.

"Lin, you need to be in a hospital," Naru insisted.

"No," Lin grunted. "We all saw how well that went last time."

"For all we know, you could have several infections. You need treatment."

"No."

The door opened. Lin sat up straight. They all turned their attention to Father Tojo. He was soaking wet, but he wasn't nearly as wet as the miserable excuse for a package he had in his hands. "I apologize for interrupting. This package is for Koujo Lin. I assume that's you?" He motioned towards Lin, who nodded and accepted the parcel. Tojo then left the room.

It was a box. A soaking wet box. "What is it?" Yasu asked.

"No clue," Lin replied. "But I don't like the looks of it." He made a slight motion with his head. "_Wu, investigate._" The little red dragon slid from around his neck and into the parcel. He came out not a second later, returning to his customary position around his master's neck.

"_It's a silver circle._"

"_A what?_"

"_A compact disk?_" Long asked. Wu hesitated before choosing to nod.

"_Note to everyone, get Wu up to date with human technology,_" Kai muttered to himself, even though he knew that the other three had heard him. He didn't give a damn.

Lin, on the other hand, knew that, no matter how snarky or mischievous his shiki got, they couldn't lie to him. He pulled the box open easily. Out came a CD in a transparent case. He handed it off to Naru, who went to put it in the computer.

"Be sure the antivirus program is running," Lin warned. Naru nodded. A few clicks and a disk insert later, a window popped up. It said: _Click to play_. Naru did so. A video began. The first things they saw were the faces of Ayako Matsuzaki and Hoshou Takigawa. They had been gagged, and they were watching carefully the moves of the people behind the camera. A line of text began to crawl on the bottom of the video as a message began to play, voices distorted. Well at least they had a good editor.

"Listen up, Shibuya Psychic Research; we know you have Hell's demon Jaquikik in your possession." Jack perked up. Mai turned to him before turning back to the tape. "You will bring him willingly to the cave that your colleague escaped from a week ago. You will not bring anyone but Jaquikik with you. You will not fight back. You have forty-eight hours, starting at 12:00 midnight tonight. Failure to comply with any of our requests results in their throats getting slit. This disk will self-destruct in ten. Nine…"

"Wait, what?" Yasu blurted.

"Naru!" Mai exclaimed.

"Everybody out of the room!" Naru yelled. However, before he could even move, a strong set of jaws had fastened itself around the computer. In one swift movement of its neck, the computer had been ripped out of the electrical outlets and tossed out the window, exploding in the rain.

"Jack!" Mai shouted, before stopping herself. Jack was staring intently at the window where the computer had self-destructed. Mai stepped forward. "Jaquikik?"' His gaze snapped right to her. "Your real name is Jaquikik?" And to everyone's surprise, he nodded. However, his eyes communicated something to Mai that nobody else could read. "_I told you that from the beginning._"

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading!<br>Galacticexplorer12


	8. Chapter 8

Happy Thanksgiving 2014!

* * *

><p><strong>.o0o.<strong>

The dilemma: to call or not to call. The police, that is. By now, Mai was pacing around the room, hands pressed to her head. "What do we do? If we go alone, it could be a trap! But if we bring people or don't go, then Monk and Ayako will be killed!"

"Mai, calm down," Naru said. The narcissist was seated in a chair, massaging his temples.

"Don't deny that you're just as freaked out as I am!" Mai snapped.

Naru banged his fist on the table. "I'm not denying anything!" Mai jumped. "Don't you think I'm just as aware of the situation as you are?" She had never heard Naru lose his composure like that. Even Jack seemed startled. She supposed the trope was true: get to an impossible man through his friends.

"The answer seems pretty clear to me," Yasu interrupted. Both faces turned to him. "We're a team. We don't abandon each other in times of need, do we?" He paused, letting his words sink in. Then he continued. "Look, all they wanted was Jack, right? Why not give them the benefit of the doubt?"

The bathroom door opened. "Because they don't deserve it," Lin said, coming out. His shirt was still a bloody mess, but by now, the blood had dried. "When I woke up after they abducted me, I was surrounded by a dozen children's corpses. They meant for the children to be tributes for Jack." He shot an unreadable look to the creature, who remained impassive. "I am willing to lead you back to the cave. But if we do, we should leave now. Cars can't go through Aokigahara, and it took me a day to cross it on foot."

"Fine. But how are we going to transport Jack?" Naru asked. At that, the creature got up and walked up to them. He stared down at them, expectantly. In contrast, Naru's expression was that of genuine surprise.

"I think that's your answer, Naru," Yasu said.

Naru blinked. "You're willing to cooperate with us?" To that, Jack nodded. Then he gave his head a swing, flexing the blades on his arms and baring his teeth. The SPR stared in confusion before Lin spoke up.

"He's got some personal business to settle with them," he explained.

"How do you know?" Naru asked.

"Because when my captors attacked me in his presence, he attacked them. Both times."

Apparently, that answer was enough to satisfy Naru. "Let's go," he said, taking his coat and leading the other four out the door.

Mai allowed herself to walk beside Lin as they crossed the courtyard. She fixed her gloves anxiously, thinking about how to put what she needed to say. Eventually, she decided to just spit it out. "I should let you know: I saw what happened to you in one of those dreams."

Lin attempted not to let his discomfort show. "A lot happened to me, Mai. What did you see?"

"The little girl in the pink dress." At that, Lin sighed and put a hand to his forehead. Seeing this, Mai continued. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have done anything."

He shook his head. "I could have done many things. I could have used the nine cuts. I could have been faster. I could have hidden her somewhere."

"It's them who should be blamed, not you."

"Don't you think I know that?" Lin snapped. "But I can't change what I feel, no matter how illogical it is."

"Yeah, but–"

"Just drop it."

Mai looked down. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

That's when Yasu decided to insert himself. "Hey, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Lin growled, moving away from the two of them. Yasu turned to Mai.

"Nothing," Mai echoed, following Lin.

Yasu's pace slowed as he watched the tenseness oozing off of his friends. And then Jack brushed past him.

"Yasu, come on!" Naru called.

"Coming!" Yasu replied, running up to the parked van. He and Mai got into the back with Masako, where Lin and Naru got in the front. Naru took the wheel, which was probably for the best. No matter how ticked he was, he could be counted on to not drive them into a tree. That's when Yasu realized something. "What about Jack?"

In response to that, Jack climbed up onto the top of the van. The SPR members inside flinched as his claws bent the metal somewhat.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Yasu asked.

In response, Naru knocked on the roof. Jack's head came down and stared at them, upside down, from the windshield. "That may not be the safest course of action," Naru said.

"Well, he did hang on to Madoka's car when she was swerving all over the place a few hours ago," Mai said.

"And if we go under a bridge?"

"Then he'll duck," Yasu supplied. "Really, Naru, what kind of bridge has a six foot clearance?"

"Too many in this city," Naru replied. He turned the key. The car was just about to pull out of the lot when a man ran up to them. They were all put on edge when they couldn't identify him, because of his heavy rain slicker. However, when he pulled his hood down, they breathed a sigh of relief. It was just Father Tojo. Lin rolled the window down.

"Where are you going?" the Father asked.

"A situation has come up," Lin said.

"Have you found John?"

"No, the opposite. Takigawa and Matsuzaki have been taken hostage. We've already called the police about it, but they refuse to negotiate without us."

At that moment, Mai was wondering how the hell everyone around her was such a good liar except for her.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Tojo asked.

"Stay out of it," Lin said.

"Wait," Naru interrupted. Everyone looked at him. "Listen, Madoka is currently in prison, and I want you to bail her out and tell her to call me on my number. I'll reimburse you for whatever has to be paid."

"Excuse me?" Tojo asked, gawking.

"If you want to help us, you'll do this, and you'll do it before nightfall. Otherwise, you'll stay out of the way." He then turned away from Tojo and to his assistant. "Lin." To that, Jack responded by craning his neck and snorting in Tojo's face, causing him to back off. Lin then closed the window. Naru pulled out of the parking lot and drove off.

"But Naru," Mai said as they sped down the street towards the highway. "What will Madoka do for us now?"

"From all of the things that have happened to us regarding this gang, I can only assume that they have some kind of supernatural aid. We need an anchor on the other side that we can come to for help, which brings me to my next point. Mai, I want you to go to sleep and meet with Gene. Tell him to fill Madoka in on what's going on, and to be ready for whatever may come our way. Try not to do any astral projecting."

"Naru, I'm too anxious. I can't sleep."

"I could sing you a lullaby," Yasu interjected.

"Ever since that incident at the restaurant, I trust _no_ song that comes out of your mouth," Mai muttered.

"Mai, you wound me," Yasu said, putting a hand on his chest dramatically.

"Here, Mai," Lin said. Mai blinked in confusion before she felt a comforting warmth surround her. She saw the faint glow of an orange Chinese dragon as it wrapped itself around her. She immediately began to feel drowsy. The last thing she heard was someone saying, "Mai, be careful."

_Mai opened her eyes to see Gene standing over her. He extended his hand. Mai took it, and he gently helped her to her feet. Mai opened her mouth to speak, but Gene stopped her. "When you wake up, please remind your brother that there _are_ mirrors on a van."_

_Mai blushed. "So you heard us?"_

_Gene nodded. "Every word. Now, care to tell me what this event with Yasu was?"_

_Mai only blushed harder. She looked up at Gene, who had an expectant expression on his face. Mai countered him with a question. "Has brain bleach been invented in the spirit world yet?"_

_Gene frowned. "That bad, eh?"_

"_Yeah, you don't want to know. _I_ don't want to know. So is there spirit brain bleach or not?"_

_Gene let out a laugh. "Not yet. However, it might make exorcisms easier."_

"_Yeah, but the easy way doesn't mean the right way."_

"_That's true."_

_Suddenly, Gene's eyes flicked behind Mai. He shoved her aside, only to welcome a large claw slamming into his chest, forcing him to the ground. Mai recognized the being instantly._

"_Jack!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing?"_

_She watched in horror as the creature grabbed Gene by the forearm and began slamming his body into the floor, time and again, before finally releasing him, sending him flying across the spiritual plane. Several of the white lights had been frazzled in the moment, now shifting around wildly._

"_Gene!" Mai exclaimed, running up to him. She turned back to Jack, who was merely watching what was going on. "What's the matter with you?" _

"_Don't worry. He was just getting even," came the voice from the ground. _

_Mai turned to him. "Gene, are you okay?"_

_Gene sat up, giving his bones a good cracking. He grasped his shoulder. "I'll be fine. I'm already dead, remember?"_

"_But that doesn't mean you can't feel pain."_

"_True. But that was what he was after. And he's done now. Right?" Gene asked, looking directly at Jack. Mai followed his gaze and watched as the creature nodded._

"_But why did he do that?" Mai asked._

"_Probably for forcing him out of your headspace. When he was able to touch you in person, he reestablished the mind link."_

_Mai blinked, wheels turning in her brain. Jack came up and nudged her, and she began stroking his muzzle. "But that would mean… how did he establish the link in the first place?"_

_Gene shook his head. "No idea. But it's clear that he is an intelligent being, possibly rivaling human intelligence." He stood up. "I should probably be on my way. I've got to contact Madoka."_

"_Hold on," Mai called. Gene stopped and turned to her. "Do you know anything about what we're going to be facing?" In response, he just began to fade. "Wait!" Mai called. "Is that a 'no,' or is it one of your cryptic warnings?"_

"_It's a 'no'. Mai, whatever you do, don't let your guard down. Make sure my idiot brother gets that message." At that, he disappeared. Mai was left standing beside Jack, and her senses were beginning to fade. She was waking up. She looked up at the creature before she lost all of her vision._

She awoke in an awkward position. No part of her was touching solid ground. Instead, there was a set of hands clasping her around her waist. She jolted awake, lashing out, before kicking something solid. Then her entire support went down, and so did she. When she completely came to, she found herself sitting on top of Yasu, whose glasses were now broken.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Yasu! I didn't see you there," she said.

"I figured," the college student replied.

Mai then felt something nudge her from behind. She turned her head to see Jack. Apparently, they were trying to situate her on his back so that he could carry her while she slept. But there was no need for that now, as she was wide awake.

"I broke you glasses," she said.

Yasu shrugged. "Yeah, I was going to stay behind anyway."

Naru took that as his cue to step in. "Okay, Yasu, go back and watch the van. We'll call you incase we need anything. Tell Madoka where we went when she gets here. Unless there is a dire emergency where you are (and no, being towed does not count as dire), _do not_ call us. We have to make them think we're alone." He then turned his attention to Mai. "Did you contact Gene?"

"Yeah," Mai said, nodding. "He said that because of the mirrors on the van, he heard our entire conversation."

"Wait," Lin interrupted. Mai, Naru, and Masako turned to him. "Has Gene ever been able to do that before?"

"No," Naru said.

"It must be Aokigahara forest," Masako suggested. "The active energies are amplifying Gene's powers."

"If that's the case…" Lin moved over to the van and, with the help of his metal shiki, removed one of the side mirrors. He handed the bulky thing to Naru. "Keep this on you at all times." The group continued through one of the hiking trails, keeping an ear open to Lin's directions. Really, this was all it was: "Head towards the big mountain in the distance." Nobody noticed Lin stopping and looking to the left.

He extended his hands to welcome Wu. "_Where are Rokku and Take?_"

Wu shook his head. "_I couldn't sense them anywhere. I have no idea where they went._"

"_Where were they last?_" Lin asked, but directed at Long and Kai as well.

Kai was the one to respond. "_Last time we saw them, we were at the SPR building._"

"_Which is now completely burnt to a crisp,_" Long added.

"_Do you think they're… whatever happens to spirits when they die again?_"

Lin looked down, pensive. "_I doubt it. They know how to weave in and out of a bonfire. And Take's element is water. They wouldn't fall all _that_ easily._"

"_But we never did training against incense,_" Wu said. That's when an idea hit Lin. The fire in the SPR–it was set ablaze by those people in purple with their special incense. The only question now was why. An idea came to him. He ran to catch back up with the group who still hadn't noticed that he was gone (that in itself wasn't too comforting a fact).

"Jack, I need to ask you something. Just nod to indicate your answer."

The creature stopped and turned to Lin, as did the rest of the group.

"What is it, Lin?" Mai asked.

Lin ignored her. "Were you at the SPR office this morning?"

To everyone's mild surprise, the creature nodded.

"Did you see what started the fire?"

Another nod.

"Was it the people in purple robes?"

And to everyone's surprise, Jack shook his head.

"Then who…?"

Jack blankly stared. Lin then realized that the creature couldn't really answer that, however he really didn't feel like playing twenty questions with the guy. But Mai did.

"Was it a living thing?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Um… a human?"

A shake. That caused unease among the group. What could have attacked their office? Mai continued. "A ghost?"

Another shake.

"An animal?"

Jack tilted his head.

"Is that a kind-of-sort-of-maybe?"

A nod.

"Was it you?" Everyone turned to Naru, who had just stepped forward. Once again, Jack gave them the 'kind of' gesture.

"But why?" Mai exclaimed. Jack merely clacked his teeth. The inability to answer her question only worried her more. She turned around to the rest of the group. "Please, don't blame him!"

"Of course I blame him," Naru said. "He just admitted to burning down the office."

"I mean don't hurt him."

"Us hurt him? I'm more concerned about it the other way around."

Just as Mai was about to protest, a cold wind blew through the group. Lin took the job of interrupting the two of them. "We're loosing sunlight. We should probably get moving."

"Lin is right," Masako said. "We still have a long ways to go. It will take all the time we have to get from here to there, barring us getting lost or falling into any caves."

"But what about when we get tired?" Mai asked.

Naru's eyes widened. "That's what they want."

Masako's hand went to her lips. "They want to tire us out so that we are easily overpowered."

"But what else are we supposed to do?" Mai protested. "If we don't get there in time, Ayako and Monk will be killed."

"We keep walking," Naru said. "Do whatever you can to conserve energy."

Suddenly, a strange but completely recognizable noise was heard. All at once, alarm bells went off in all four of their heads. Mai's face flushed; she was the source of the noise. She then asked sheepishly, "Uh, did anyone by any chance bring something to eat?"

Lin sighed. _And now we can add being weak from hunger on our growing list of why we are completely screwed_, he thought. A clicking sound brought him out of his headspace. Everyone looked up to see Jack clacking his teeth.

"He's offering to hunt for us," Mai said.

"Which would only be a good idea if any of us knew how to cook wildlife that is probably imbued with all sorts of spiritual energy," Naru retorted. Another cold chill swept through the group.

"We should keep moving," Lin said. He continued forward with the rest of the group on his heels. They walked in silence. Mai and Masako stood close to each other for warmth–winter hats and gloves not working so much anymore. It was about half an hour before they stepped off of the hiking trail–but even then, they still had a ways to go. Lin had picked up a stick and was using it as a blind man would his guide. However after taking a look at the demon traveling with them, they saw that he was completely unfazed by the cold. Lucky thing.

Naru himself was becoming quite drowsy. He had been up since the crack of dawn that morning. The case was on, and it was just work as normal. But if he had known he would be going on a wild goose chase for forty-eight hours straight, he would have totally slept in. He let out a sigh, watching his breath vaporize in the air. _Gene, give me strength_. And to his surprise, he got a response.

"_A little. But not all. You may need it later._"

Naru nodded his thanks, but because of the darkness, nobody caught it.

"Everybody stop!" Lin shouted. They did. They watched as Lin's dark figure moved side to side. "There's an open cave in front of us."

"Is there any way around it?" Mai asked, shivering.

"Should be." He walked around the rim of the cave, dragging the stick along with him. However, he was concentrating so hard on that particular cave that he was completely taken by surprise when he fell into another one.

"Lin!" Mai exclaimed, dashing towards the sound of his fall.

"Watch out! The walls are–" He was cut off as Mai slammed right into him. "Slippery."

As Mai opened her eyes after bracing herself as she hit the ground, she saw that her momentum had knocked Lin down, and he seemed to be in moderate pain. "Ohmigosh–Lin! Are you okay?"

"I've seen better days," he replied. Then he turned his attention upward. "Naru! Can you hear me?"

"Yes!" came the reply. "Are you two okay?"

"We're fine. Naru, don't come down here."

"But Lin!"

"You need to keep going. You can't waste time here. Go towards the mountain! You'll find an open cave–Jack should know which one is right."

"But Lin," Mai interrupted quietly. "What are we going to do?"

"We'll manage," Lin replied. Then he turned his attention back to Naru. "I'm sending you two of my shiki. Whatever you do, be careful!"

"_Wait, master,_" Wu said.

"_Long and Kai will be going._"

"_Of course we will,_" Long snorted. "_So long as Naru stays safe, it doesn't matter what happens to you._"

Lin turned to her, causing Mai's eyes to widen in confusion. "_Yes, precisely. Now stop with the chatter; we're losing time._"

Long turned to Kai. "_Unnaturally quiet right now, aren't you?_"

"_Long, stop it._"

"_But she has a point, master,_" Kai said, keeping his green eyes on the small stalactites a few feet away. "_You were hurt because we couldn't protect you._"

"_Long, Kai, go protect Naru. That is an order._"

An order was an order. His shiki could not disobey. Hesitantly, they flew upward toward Naru and began circling him. Naru was talking to Jack. "Can't you go down and get them?" And to that, Jack shook his head.

"It's too steep and narrow for him," Mai shouted up to them.

Lin then chose to cut in. "Naru, _get moving_."

"I'm going to call Yasu."

"No, don't! He can't use magic, so sending him alone into Aokigahara is out of the question."

"So I'm just supposed to leave you there?"

"It's that or gamble with Ayako and Takigawa's lives while you try to rescue us. The last thing we need is for you to fall in here too. Now shut up and take Jack to the mountain."

Naru clenched his teeth and his fists. He knew that Lin was right. "Fine. Just don't do anything stupid." He turned away from that cave and towards the other one that he had to cross. Jack paced in front of him and turned his rear end to him. Naru understood instantly and used Jack's knee as a stepping-stone, eventually straddling the creature around the base of its neck. He grabbed hold of his neck and Jack sped off, bridging the gap instantly and running toward the mountain.

* * *

><p>Madoka sat in a small prison cell, hunched over, hands folded, waiting for something to happen. She snuck glances to the mirror in her cell a few times, just because there was nothing else to do. She hadn't told the Davis' family yet, but she knew that she could worm her way out of any sticky situation with them. She was, however, smart enough not to try that with the police. She began tapping her foot, allowing herself to drift off into her headspace. Something suddenly whispered to her from the mirror.<p>

"_Madoka, this is Gene. Lean back if you can hear me._"

In response, she leaned back.

"_Good. Now, here's what's going on, and here's what you need to do._"

* * *

><p><em>Mai blinked awake. Gene was standing over her. He watched as she got up. "I have delivered the message to Madoka," he said. To this, Mai nodded. "And you have gotten yourself stuck in a cave."<em>

"_It _is_ a first for me," Mai replied with a smile. Her face immediately straightened as she continued, "Naru's gone up ahead. Stay with him and keep him from killing himself, would you?"_

_Gene nodded. He began to fade, but not before taking Mai's face in his hands and pointing it off in a particular direction to her right. Then she woke up._

Her eyes blinked as she got up off of the cold, smooth stone floor. Immediately, she looked up in the direction that Gene pointed her in. Her eyes had completely adjusted to the darkness of the cave and she saw several passageways.

"You're awake," Lin said.

Mai turned to him. "We need to go that way," she said, pointing down one of the passageways. Lin shot her a questioning look. She continued. "Gene told me." To that, Lin nodded. He and Mai went off in that direction–Lin watching where Mai stepped, and Mai trudging faithfully onward.

She only stopped when she saw that Lin was leaning against a rock formation with a hand pressed against his stomach. She turned around and ran back to his side. His teeth were clenched.

"Lin, you're still hurt!" she exclaimed as he let himself down to the ground.

"Adrenaline's worn off. Goddammit."

"You can't go on like this."

"What choice do we have, Mai? If we get turned around now, we'll just end up walking in circles and dying."

"Then stay here and I'll go myself."

To that, Lin gave her his best 'are-you-completely-out-of-your-mind' glare. And then he stood up. A drop of blood fell on Mai's hand. Her eyes widened. He began trudging forward, and Mai took over watching where they stepped. It wasn't long before they came across an iron door without hinges. It wouldn't even be worth it to try and open it in a conventional way. Lin narrowed his eyes before stepping forward, still bracing himself against the wall. He made a small movement before the door began to melt. Mai watched as he doubled over, panting. He was already using all of his strength to keep himself going, but to sacrifice some of it for Wu–he was in no shape to take on whatever threat would come their way. So Mai decided that she would have her guard up twice as strong, just in case that time did come.

The door melted completely to the ground. Lin stepped over the mess, as did Mai, but as they looked up, they only saw more cave. Mai's face reflected confusion. She looked back, only to see that the molten mess was no longer there. It was as if the door was never there in the first place. But that made no sense. What kind of a door would disappear once it had been destroyed? Her brow furrowed. Why would an appliance vanish? Then it hit her. It would vanish after its job was done. She shot a glance at Lin, no longer leaning against the wall for support (she suspected Wu had something to do with that), but exhaustion was clearly written on his face. Its job was to weaken them. Which meant that– Another door appeared in their pathway. Mai sprung into action.

"It's a trap!" she exclaimed. Lin stopped instantly. "They just want to drain us of all our energy. Don't do anything to it!"

"Gene wanted us to go this way, didn't he?" Lin countered.

"It's not worth it. Your suffering isn't worth it!"

"And what do you want us to do instead? Dig around it?"

"Turn back?"

Lin made a face. "You're kidding, right? We've already come this far."

"But think about it! The door disappeared after you destroyed it before, and here it is again. It's going to keep doing this until we're completely drained of energy and then finish us off!"

Lin sighed and leaned against the wall. Mai joined him, but neither of them took their eyes off of the iron door. It was as if it was watching them. And it was just their luck–the walls of the cave began to shake. Stalactites began to fall, as did large slabs of rocks.

"Lin!" Mai exclaimed. Without a word, Lin threw himself over her as the passageway completely collapsed.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading!<br>Galacticexplorer12


	9. Chapter 9

**.o0o.**

As soon as Naru had left her, Aokigahara stole her. She was now floating among the spirits–most of them recognized her as a medium–someone quite worthy of respect. Those that did not were met with growls and snorts. Masako did not need to speak to tell the forest dwellers what she was doing there, and what exactly she was looking for. The benevolent spirits were all too ready to assist her. A spirit in the form of a lioness had materialized in front of her, and she grabbed a tuft of fur on the top of its head. The lioness moved in complete silence, directing Masako through the sea of white lights among a darkened forest of spirits. Every now and then, the lioness would turn its nose skyward, lips curling, as it sniffed the air. After doing this for the twelfth time, it stopped before dematerializing.

Masako drew her hand away from the being as it vanished, looking around. This was the place that the spirit wanted to show her, and until she found what it wanted her to see, she would not rest. But there was nothing unusual among these white lights. At least–nothing immediately unusual. As Masako squinted, she thought she saw the forest thinning in the distance. She began to walk towards it. As she approached, she saw that it wasn't a clearing–it was just blankness. The amount of white lights also began to thin out, until there were none. None except for one.

Masako went up to it and brought her hand close to it, contemplating. Was it hostile? Or was it the key to this entire fiasco? Readying her other hand to defend herself if need be, she touched the white light. The response was instantaneous. The light began to shapeshift. It took a longer form with two limbs toward one end. Masako tilted her head and stepped back, eventually recognizing the light as a human lying on its side. And then the features became more defined. The first thing she noticed was the lemony hair.

"John!" she exclaimed, kneeling down to the figure and shaking it lightly. As she did, she noticed that the figure seemed to be giving off steam in certain empty parts of its form–empty as in they had been cut away. But there was no blood–at least, not in the spirit realm. Masako put a hand to her mouth as she realized just the extent of damage done to the young man in front of her. His body was covered in lacerations. There was a mark around his neck as if something had been ripped off of it. She moved down to touch him on his lacerated face, to which he awoke. "Oh John," Masako said.

"Miss Hara?" John replied, eyes unfocused.

"Yes, it's me."

John immediately tried to roll over and sit up, which he did with Masako's help. His next question made her heart break. "Am I dead?"

Tears welled up in Masako's eyes. "I don't know. I don't even know if _I'm_ alive right now."

"How have the others been? Kazuya? Mai?"

"Things have only gotten worse since you left," Masako said. "Only good news we have–Lin was found. But now Ayako and Takigawa have been taken hostage. The others have gone off to pay the ransom."

"This just gets worse and worse, doesn't it?" John replied. He pressed his hands to his face. Even more steam escaped from his open wounds.

"What happened to you?" Masako asked.

John shook his head beneath his hands before removing them and putting them at his sides. "It's all been dark. I can only feel and hear what they're doing to me. They taunt me. They took away my crucifix." Masako eyed the laceration around his neck. John hesitated. Masako held her breath. "Actually," John continued, directing Masako's attention back to his words. "It feels more like they are unable to kill me, or they're having a hard time doing it. Or at the very least, they don't know what to do with me, so this is more like an experiment on their part."

"But they're torturing you."

To that, John nodded. Then his eyes widened. "I'm still alive."

Masako tilted her head.

"I'm–they're pulling on me! They're pulling me back!" And it was as John said. Masako felt John's essence pulling away from her. He grabbed her kimono. "Miss Hara, I'm still alive! Please help me!"

"John! Where are you?" Masako shouted, only for him to completely disappear from her arms. "John! John!" And at that, she broke down in tears. The blackness around her became lush forest again, and she found herself surrounded by the spirits of Aokigahara. The same lioness that guided her to the place was now curled up beside her, waiting for her to calm herself. As she became more and more aware of the spirit, she began to compose herself. She stared the spirit in its large, feline eyes. "Show me the way."

The cat got up and Masako followed it, only for the cat to disappear once again, and for the forest to become much more defined. Masako threw her hand outward. "Wait!" she cried, but the lioness paid her no heed. But now she could feel the solid, earthy ground beneath her boots. She was back in the land of the living with absolutely no idea where she was. She looked around a few times before spotting Mt. Fuji and heading in that direction.

* * *

><p>The ride on Jaquikik's back was bumpy to say the least, but he was fast. Naru's horseback riding lessons came in somewhat handy, as sitting atop a creature in motion was much harder than it looked. He held tight to the van's side-view mirror and to Jack. The demon ran on in what seemed to be a beeline for the cave that Lin was talking about. Naru could only hope that the two of them were okay–<p>

Masako.

He completely left her in the dust. He reached out and grabbed one of Jack's back-facing antennae and gave it a pull. It was his right one, so Jack's head was pulled to the right, and he made a sharp right turn. Naru was flung completely off of his back and slammed painfully into a tree. Jack waved his antennae toward his open mouth. Naru, watching from his semi-paralyzed position on the ground, assumed that Jack's antennae were rather sensitive. Although turning his head towards the pain seemed unusual, as animals would normally lick their wounds. That's when Naru saw it. Inside Jack's mouth, Jack had no tongue. Naru sat up and squinted. No. It wasn't just that he didn't have a tongue. He had his tongue severed. There was a tongue stump toward the back of his mouth that moved longingly towards the aching antenna. Naru got up from the tree roots and backed away from the demon.

Jack quickly turned his attention from his antenna to Naru, snapping his mouth shut. He must have figured out what Naru was staring at, since the demon's behavior was what someone might call 'self-conscious.' Jack took a tentative step in Naru's direction, but Naru only took another step back. Naru himself felt two spiritual energies flare up defensively–Lin's shiki. Jack cooed as non-threateningly as he could. Naru felt the shikis' hackles rise even higher. Naru put a hand in front of one of them, stopping them both. He then took a more daring step forward, hand reaching up to Jack's mouth. Jack lowered his head and held his jaws open wide enough for Naru to stick his hand inside and feel the stump. It had healed over, but it had not grown back. This Jack creature was most probably capable of speech at one point, but for some reason, his tongue had been removed.

Naru pulled his hand back out of the demon's mouth and rubbed off the saliva on a nearby tree. He then placed his hands on Jack's shoulder, silently asking for permission to mount him. When Jack lowered his body so he could do so, he did. And Jack resumed running towards the mountain. They were probably an hour or so away, so long as Jack kept up his fast pace. The sun was just peeking over the horizon. The forty-eight hours given to them now seemed absurd. As soon as they had gotten the tape that last night, they went right on their way. They had been traveling nonstop since they started, and it had lasted not even twelve hours. _Perhaps they didn't expect Jack to be complacent to the extent where he would be ferrying us,_ Naru thought. That must have been it. Also, there was a shitload of caves at the base of Mount Fuji, so that would also be a bit of a problem.

* * *

><p>It was Tojo that eventually came and bailed her out. He had assured her that Naru would be compensating him, which only strengthened Madoka's resolve to make sure he did. After thanking him, she went on her way, back to her apartment. She picked up all of the things she knew she would need: chalk, salt, incense, and candles. Once inside her house, she went to the closet and pulled out her full-length mirror. She dimmed the lights, locked the door, and placed the mirror down in the small living room. She drew a circle around the mirror and around herself with the chalk and the salt. Then she placed the candles around the edges, lighting them with the sticks of incense. Now all she had to do was wait for them to contact her. Luckily for her, she realized that that might take a while and brought several books into the circle with her.<p>

* * *

><p>Jack was truly not of this world. He had been running nonstop ever since Naru had mounted him (save for that little antennae tongue fiasco), and he showed little signs of slowing down. Naru, however, was starting to get a little stiff in the legs. He could really have gone for some of Mai's tea by now. It would probably be just now that she would get into the office and he would tell her to make tea. He was jolted out of his thoughts and his grip tightened, just as Jack launched into the air, landing over the top of the slanted entrance of a cave. Looking up, Naru saw that they were at the base of Mount Fuji.<p>

"Show me the way, Jack," Naru whispered.

Jack clacked his teeth. He circled the entrance of that slanted cave before scurrying off towards another one. They had to repeat this action about twenty times before Jack finally chose a cave and practically slithered right into its mouth. Everything went dark as Naru's eyes tried to adjust to the dimmer light, which left him completely unprepared for Jack to buck him off once again.

Naru righted himself, shooting Jack a 'what-the-hell' look. Jack merely moved to block the way through the cave, looking down that particular path. The shiki on his shoulders too were becoming aggravated with the creature's unpredictable behavior. Naru started to march back up to Jack, but Jack extended a claw, touching him gently in the chest. Then he pushed the narcissist back a few paces.

The shiki on Naru's shoulders exchanged glances. "_What's he doing?_" Kai hissed.

"_Telling Oliver to stay behind him, if I had to guess. Which I do,_" Long replied. They both turned their attention to Naru as he complied with Jack's request, walking near his right hind leg rather than by his shoulder where he would have been more comfortable.

Kai looked down solemnly. "_I'm worried about the boss._"

"_I am too, but orders are orders._"

They both stopped when they came to a metal door on an elevated platform, about waist height. There was a small staircase leading up to the platform, which was all too small for Jack. Instead, Jack just took his long forearm and smashed through the door as if it were nothing and continued walking. Naru followed close behind, mirror still clutched in one hand.

He was immediately overcome with the intense urge to vomit.

Everything reeked of blood and rust. They were in a metal hallway with several iron doors lining the sides. Against his better judgment, Naru turned around. The door that they had just smashed through did not lead back to the cave that they had come from. Instead, it lead to what Naru could only assume was a torture chamber. Mangled and mutilated bodies of what looked like children were lying about, barely recognizable under layers of blood. Some looked half devoured. From the amount of blood, Naru deduced that the number of children had to have been much higher than the five or six inside the chamber at the moment.

Swallowing down the bile rising in his throat, he turned back to Jack, only to find Jack's accusatory eye staring at him, all but snarling the question, "_What do you have to say, huh?_"

It clicked. Jack did this. Jack ate the bodies of those children.

Jack watched him for another few seconds before continuing to walk down the hallway. Naru had little choice but to follow. They walked for several minutes, Naru completely on edge, before coming to door on the end of the hallway. Once again, Naru stood back as Jack smashed through it with his strong forearms. However, as soon as he stuck his neck inside, all hell broke loose.

Something fell from the ceiling and wrapped around the base of Jack's neck. Something slammed into the top of his muzzle and closed around it, tightening painfully. Jack let loose a screech, but the sound could not escape. His spiracles flared. No matter which way he struggled, the restraints kept him in place. Several humans jumped down from ambush positions on the high ceiling. One of them stepped forward, staring straight into Jack's eyes.

"We've got you at last."

From the other end of the door, Naru dove away from Jack's writhing tail. He turned around to see men clad in purple emerging from spaces between Jack's neck and the hole in the door, fastening what looked like metal chains to the creature's flailing limbs, including the tail. One of them noticed him, and he took that as the signal to run.

He was quickly overtaken and tackled to the ground. He was practically dogpiled before his own flailing limbs were grabbed and pinned to the ground.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded one of the people who were holding him down.

"I am Kazuya Shibuya, head of Shibuya Psychic Research."

A look of recognition passed over the man's face. "Yes, you have answered our ransom."

"Yes, now, hold up your end of the deal."

The man put a hand to his chin. "You know, you look really stupid barking orders at me lying on the ground like that." To emphasize it, he put his foot on Naru's chest, leaning on it and looking down at him. Naru tried not to wince. Instead, he gripped his mirror harder and began to concentrate. Suddenly, all of the people holding him down were blown off of him. Naru felt his immense surge of power leave by way of his arm into the mirror.

"All right," Naru said, dusting himself off. "Now hold up your end of the deal. Let Ayako Matsuzaki and Hoshou Takigawa go."

The man got up to meet his glare. "Yeah, no."

Naru's eyes narrowed. "We had a deal."

"No. You see, there's still something that has to be done, and you're going to come with us to make sure it goes off without a hitch." The man then looked around. "Funny, I thought there would be more of you."

"What still has to be done?" Naru barked.

"You'll see. Now come with us unless you want your friends dead. And no tricks–we've _all_ got a close eye on you, Oliver Davis."

Naru took a glance over all of the people in purple now filling the room, all eyes on him. A camera that he was sure wasn't there a minute ago turned to him, adjusting its lenses in an accusatory manner. The sounds of chains rustling were heard in the other room. Naru's head snapped towards Jack, who was now apparently being dragged against his will inside the room. Naru gritted his teeth, frustrated at his inability to do anything.

They taped his hands together behind his back, and they had a fierce grip on the back of his neck. They forced him forward, after Jack.

"What's with the mirror, bub?" one of them snapped. Instead of waiting for a reply, the woman snatched it from him and smashed it against the wall.

"Nine years of bad luck!" another exclaimed, pointing childishly in her direction.

"You idiot, it's seven!" she retorted, smacking him. "And we have the power of Belphegor on our side, so bad luck is not even–"

"Belphegor?" Naru exclaimed, silencing them both. "The demon prince Belphegor?"

"That's the one," the woman replied, nodding–not that Naru could see it.

"But why? Demons are murdering, rampaging maniacs! You can't trust them!" A snort caught all of their attentions immediately. Naru looked up towards Jack, who was trying his best to glare at him with his right eye. Naru averted his gaze, unsure of the proper response. In his case, it was true. All demons turned out to be merciless killers, save for the ones that were bound under oath or other means.

One of the men leaned in close, breath tickling Naru's left ear. "I don't think Jaquikik liked that particular statement, boy."

Naru did not respond. Instead, they continued to shove him down through the hole in the door. On the other side of the door lay a room with a purple bed somewhere towards the left. Naru's eyes widened as he saw remnants of a child under the bed. And it looked like the child was wearing a pink dress when she died. Once again, he looked at Jack, who was glaring relentlessly at him.

There was another set of doors on the wall across from them. They opened to reveal even more people in purple clothing, but in their grasps were Ayako Matsuzaki and Hoshou Takigawa, bound and gagged with duct tape. Naru opened his mouth to call to them, but a hand slapped over his mouth, stopping him. He was, however, moved forward through the group so that Ayako and Takigawa could easily see him, and he could easily see them. The two of them across the way began to shout something at him, but it was completely lost under the duct tape. They also seemed to be worried about the presence of Jack, especially in chains.

One of the people in purple stepped forward from behind Naru. "Great Master, we are ready."

"Yes, yes," replied an old, frail voice. Pushing through the group of people on Ayako and Takigawa's side was a short, old woman, balancing on a wooden cane. She was dressed in a purple skirt and a white-cloaked hood. She looked straight into Naru's eyes.

Naru sensed an immense amount of power stemming from her. He just had to ask. "Are you Belphegor?"

She smiled. "No, child." Then she turned to face Jack. "You've been a lot of trouble, boy," she said, pointing her cane at him. Jack's expression remained impassive, although the tenseness with which he held his head only showed his growing anticipation. This did not escape Naru, either, and this put him on even more edge than he was before.

The woman tapped the ground with her cane. And swiftly, tile-by-tile, the room began to disappear. All that was around them was plain blackness.

"Take care not to step off the edges of the raft," the woman said in her kindly, frail voice. Naru's eyes narrowed in confusion. _What raft?_ He couldn't see a damn thing in this darkness. And then it hit him. He could still see every living thing in front of him as if it was bright, but he could see nothing of their environment. Nothing except for… a faint glimmer in the distance. The glimmer got closer and closer until it seemed to take on an completely different essence. Instead of being in the distance and getting closer, it detached from its location completely and swirled around them, like a fairy of some kind.

"Lord Belphegor," the woman started, bowing her head. Everyone else bowed to their knees, forcing Naru, Ayako, and Takigawa to bow as well. "We have brought what you requested."

The light circled around them before honing in on Jack. It seemed to be inspecting the chains placed around his body.

A voice emanated from the light. "…You call this 'on-his-free-will'?"

A look of worry seemed to flash over everyone's faces. This probably wouldn't end well, just as Naru predicted.

"Just a precaution, sir," the woman replied, unable to shake the anxiousness from her voice. "The chains aren't hurting him."

The light circled around Jack's face. The chains started to glow before disintegrating completely. Jack flexed he blades on his arms as well as his jaws, showing off his sharp teeth. The light's glow intensified. Jack's eyes turned murderous.

"What did it just tell you?" Naru shouted. Jack hissed like a snake and leaped upward. He landed with a thud in between the two groups. And then, with reckless abandon, he snatched up one of the men holding Naru and gave him a hearty toss. Naru expected the man to crash into the ground, but instead, he kept on falling. He fell beyond all possible sight. Jack had thrown him off the edge of the raft. He turned around and did the same to a person on the other side of the invisible raft. Naru wisely ducked before getting hit by his tail, which others were not so smart to do. And Jack was able to toss eight or nine more people before a crack of light emerged from below him. They all just stood in dreadful anticipation as the crack got bigger and bigger until they fell. They fell into darkness.

* * *

><p><em>The mirror shattered. Gene could no longer follow his brother. Something tugged on his consciousness. Mai. Mai was on the astral plane again. But no mirror meant no Madoka meant no anchor meant Naru was in <em>very_ real danger. No. NO! He wouldn't let Naru die. Not now. Not yet. An overwhelming darkness stood off in front of him. That was where Naru was. He ran towards it._

_A hand grabbed his wrist. He wrenched it out of the grasp._

"_Gene!"_

_It was Mai. He whirled around. Mai recoiled at the wildness in Gene's eyes. She had never seen him so potent. Gene could not speak. He had no words. They were all stopped up inside his nervous wreck of a spirit body. He stepped backwards, away from Mai, before running into the darkness._

There was immense pressure on her back, squeezing her insides together. But it felt nothing like a giant boulder. She also felt something warm on the back of her neck. She opened her eyes to find that she was lying on her front, head turned to the left. To the left of her, she saw a hand much larger than hers. It had several small cuts, but it was nothing compared to the laceration on the forearm attached to it. Then she realized. Lin was on top of her. After the cave fell in on them. He took the brunt of the damage. For all they knew, he could have died. But he wasn't. The breath on her neck was proof.

She heard him grunt in pain and she felt as the rocks above were shifted some. The pressure on her back suddenly lifted–even the man on top of her was removed. She looked up. There was nothing anymore–just blackness and… Jack.

Jack had Lin in his jaws, taking absolutely no care for how he held the injured man.

"Jack, put him down gently. He's hurt," Mai said, getting up and extending her hands to him. In response, he flung Lin off to the side. His body hit the ground with a thud. Then he turned his attention to her. He had his fangs unfolded and his blades flexed. His long, serpent's tongue was waving in the air, tasting her scent. He took a step forward. "Jack, what are you doing?" Mai asked, backing away from him. "Jack?" The creature took another step forward, head lowered in an aggressive stance. "Jack!" Her back touched an invisible wall. Weapons bared, he charged. "JACK!"

* * *

><p>Just a little cliffy for ya'.<br>Thank you for reading!

Galacticexplorer12


	10. Chapter 10

I couldn't leave you on that cliffy for too long, now could I?

* * *

><p><strong>.o0o.<strong>

Mai was flung against another invisible wall. She had no idea why Jack was doing this. He was always so protective of her, and now _this._ Once again, Jack tossed her. Her head smacked into some invisible surface, making her world go blurry for a beat. Where even were they anymore? What happened to the cave? What time was it? Through the blurriness of her vision, she saw Jack charging at her again. Strangely in this blackness, Jack's body was completely visible. And then she heard something.

"Rin! Pyou! Tou! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Gyou!"

Jack was sent hurtling backwards. A hand grabbed Mai's arm and pulled her up to her feet. The hand was shaking, but it was strong.

"Mai, let's go!"

Lin. He ran. She ran too. Jack pursued.

"Why is he doing this?" Mai yelled. Lin was too out of breath to answer. However, he ground to a halt as Jack appeared in front of them. He was pacing menacingly towards them. They turned around to run the other way, only to see him there to. Looking quickly back and forth, they finally understood what was going on. "There are two of them!" Mai exclaimed.

The creature that had just arrived took a flying leap. Mai hit the floor, dragging Lin down with her. However, they were not that creature's target. The creature came down, fangs bared, on the neck of the pursuer.

"Jack!" Mai called to their rescuer. The creature grinned, at least as best as he could with a mouthful of opponent. Then he began to shake his opponent's head around. The other creature tried to rear up and strike with its blades, but Jack only countered with his own. He had his opponent's head in such a position that it could not bite him, unless he was stupid enough to move something in its way, which he was not.

"Mai, let's go!" Lin said again, grabbing her arm and pulling her along. A shriek cut them both off. Jack had somehow been overpowered and slammed into one of the invisible walls. Their pursuer took a leap at them. Lin whistled. Wu crashed heads with the creature, disorienting it long enough for the two humans to run behind it, out of its eyesight.

The creature turned around only for Jack to jump in between it and his friends. Then, to both Mai and Lin's amazement, it began to speak. "Jaquikik. Why do you protect the mortals?"

Jack merely lowered his head, bared his teeth, and hissed.

"What's the matter?" the opposing creature asked, a taunting gleam in its eye. "Daddy got your tongue? Oh wait…"

Mai looked up at Jack questioningly, but Jack wasn't paying attention to her.

"Mai, come on–we need to get out of here!" Lin pressed, still grasping Mai's forearm.

"And go where?" Mai countered. "I have no idea where we are or how to get out of here, so unless you can get us out of here, our only chance is Jack."

To that, they both turned to him, still fighting the other creature. They seemed to be pretty evenly matched, which they probably were. They looked almost identical, except that Jack had one light blue eye, in contrast to his opponent's yellow eyes. And then Mai saw it. His opponent had a tongue–a long, thin, lizard-like tongue. Jack had no tongue. Just a stump.

"Lin, look!" Mai said, pointing. Lin followed her gaze and saw it as well. This only confirmed their suspicions that Jack was an intelligent, sentient being. But the fight was going nowhere. One claw strike was countered by another, same with the bladed wrists and the fanged bites.

"We're going to be here for fucking ever," Lin growled. He then stepped forward, whistling. His shiki hit the stranger in the head, sending it back a few paces, startling both it and Jack out of the match.

The creature glared down at the human. "Do not interfere!" it hissed, raising its claw to strike him. Instead, it was met with a ferocious bite to the neck. Jack had slammed his entire body into his opponent, taking him down and pinning it under his weight. But there was still a fight to be had. The creature under his weight was struggling, and it was a struggle to keep it pinned. "Ha! Would you _really_ kill me? One of your sisters?"

_Huh,_ Mai thought. _They're siblings. I find that quite unsurprising._

Jack seemed unable to respond. He just kept his grip tight on the female.

"When dad finds out–"

Jack merely growled.

"… Ah. So he knows already. Fine. You let me up, and I'll leave you to your devices. Just be prepared for what's coming next."

Jack paused. There was no reason to kill her. Slowly and firmly, he released pressure from her body. Like the frightened animal she was, she fled from under him immediately, eventually fading into the darkness.

Mai stepped forward, placing a hand on Jack's powerful hind leg. Jack bent his head down as if to reassure her that they were going to be okay.

"Where's Naru?" Lin suddenly asked. Jack only closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Does that mean you don't know, or… or…" Mai couldn't bring herself to say it. Jack rolled his eyes impatiently, waiting for them to realize that he couldn't answer anything that wasn't a yes or no question.

"Is he dead?" Lin asked. Jack merely stared at him, face impassive. Lin gritted his teeth. "Why aren't you answering me? That was a yes or no question! Now say something, goddammit!"

Finally at the end of his demonic tether, Jack roared in Lin's face, effectively shutting him up (as well as making him jump back several feet). The demon then lowered his head and turned his backside to Mai, which she understood immediately. She stepped up onto his back and straddled the base of his neck. Jack then allowed Lin to climb up to where Mai was. And finally, he chose a direction and sped off.

* * *

><p>Naru awoke to carnival music. He was lying on his side, vision completely fuzzy. The ground was hard and gravelly–with a dark blue tint. It reminded Naru immediately of the color of planet Neptune or something. There were yellow, glowing lights like one would expect to see at a children's carnival. Several tents were set up, effectively setting up pathways. Naru couldn't have been sure, but he thought he saw a carnival wall with red and yellow vertical stripes encompassing the entire thing. Makes sense–at a carnival, there would be a carnival wall.<p>

Someone was saying something.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!" If Naru didn't know any better, he would have thought that the voice said "ghouls" rather than "girls." But he knew that couldn't have been the case.

The voice continued. Everything sounded faded in the distance, as if there was a thin wall between Naru and the rest of the environment. "Step right up! Behind this curtain lies a ghastly concoction of delight! Horror! Fantasy and terror! Your every wish is our command! Your every whimsical desire brought to life. But I'm warning you. There's _always_ a price! Welcome to the greatest show on earth!"

Naru blinked. He could have sworn he heard a "d" sound at the end of that last word. "on earthd." What the hell was "on earthd?" Was that when someone was just dropped onto the planet from outer space? "Oh you've just been on-earthd. I hope you have a nice–" Unearthed. _Unearthed._ It was the greatest show_ unearthed_. By now, Naru could have sworn that that sounded a lot like a song he heard during a Halloween party once… but that didn't matter. What mattered was that Mai was right. There really _was _a demonic carnival.

He propped himself up on one elbow, surprised at just exactly how sore he was. He couldn't remember the exact moment he hit solid ground. Everything was a blur from the fall to now. But in a place such as this, where everything seemed to be composed of illusion, he wondered just how gravity would work. He sat up, wondering just that, only snapping out of it as a child brushed right passed him. Naru watched as the child ran into a tent, followed by several others. The tent seemed _way _too small for all of those children to fit inside, but nevertheless, they had. Naru walked over to see that for himself, but aside from a few shelves of merchandise, there was only a closed curtain to some other room. Naru knew instinctively that places that fell under 'some other room' were a definite no-no.

Something caught his eye. He turned around to see a creature facing away from him, roughly eight feet tall, raisin in color, with blades on remarkably long forelimbs. Jack. Naru, without hesitation, ran towards him.

"Jack!" he shouted. The creature whirled around, teeth bared, looming over Naru menacingly. Naru immediately stopped in his tracks, backing away. "Jack, it's me!"

And then the creature stuck out its tongue. _Its tongue_. Jack didn't have a tongue. Unless Belphegor gave him his tongue back? Or… Naru looked up and around. There was another Jack-like creature perched up on one of the small tents, watching him intently. Naru turned around to see more and more of them approaching him, completely oblivious to the flurries of children scampering about their carnival. They had him backed up to the wall of a tent. They opened their mouths.

"La, la, la, la, lala, lalala la lala!" they sang. They were completely and utterly tone deaf. They had three notes in their repertoire, and aside from the first note, they were completely flat. But something about the way they tried to emanate carnival cheeriness was just downright creepy. And without his mirror, he had no line of defense besides the two shiki on his shoulders. And it wasn't like they could take _this _many demons. Nevertheless, Naru felt their hackles reach for the nonexistent skies. They were obviously overwhelmed, what with all the potent, Hellish energies swirling. It was a miracle none of the children felt it. Speaking of the children, they were gorging themselves on every little delight that the carnival had to offer. Quickly putting two and two together, Naru realized that the children were most likely beyond saving. It was common spiritualist knowledge–eat the food of a demon or a fairie and be prepared to suffer the consequences. And to top it all off, he was starving.

A tall, grotesque figure jumped into view. It had a humanoid body structure and was around nine feet tall. Its limbs were long and limber, and it had green raisin-like skin stretched over them. It wore the top half of a tuxedo, with nothing on its bottom parts, leaving its long, double-jointed legs with oxpecker-like feet in plain view. However, it seemed to lack any kind of genitals (which Naru would forever be grateful for), signaling that it either could not procreate or it did not procreate in that way. Its most striking feature was its complete lack of eyes. It had no eyes on its flytrap-like head–not even hidden under its large top hat.

It was clinging to a long pole that stuck out of the ground, completely out of the way of the can-opener reptilians and the children, but it was bending down towards Naru as if ready to address him like a child. However, before actually speaking, it stood up straight, put a hand in the air like a performer, and proceeded to sing: "Welcome to the Lower Birth! The greatest show unearthed!" And then it erupted into a fit of echoing laughter.

Naru seemed paralyzed with either fear or confusion. At this point, he couldn't decide. He watched as the tall creature extended a leg and gripped onto an adjacent pole, moving swiftly and elegantly through the carnival ground. Naru had the sudden urge to follow it, which he did without hesitation. He stopped as he caught up with it, hovering over a medium-sized tent. It motioned down to the entrance with its long, skeletal hand.

"Come inside; it's a dream. Enter the fun house of mirrors."

Against his better judgment, he went inside. Mirrors everywhere. Then it hit him. With a mirror, he could use his PK and blast them to kingdom come. Or the pits of Tartarus, seeing as how demon princes really wouldn't go to heaven. He extended his hand towards his distorted reflection, in an almost trance-like state. And then his reflection spoke.

"STOP!"

His reflection had one hand outstretched, ready to stop Naru.

"Gene?" Naru asked.

"Noll, whatever you do, don't touch anything! You can breathe the air; that's fine–just don't take part in this carnival!"

"Gene, do you know this place?"

"Noll, duck!"

Naru hit the floor, just in time for a claw to smash into the mirror, shattering it. The boy grabbed one of the shards and jabbed it backwards, stabbing the lizard creature that broke the mirror. The creature ran away, whimpering.

"Noll, no!" Gene cried, but it was too late. The spirit materialized in front of Naru, looking absolutely crestfallen.

"Gene, what is it?" Naru asked. In response, Gene pointed to his hand. Naru looked down. He had taken a piece of the carnival mirror. He was now bound to the carnival. He was now the carnival's property. As soon as this realization hit him, he heard echoing laughter from outside.

Gene moved up to his brother. He took the piece of mirror in his own hands and then dropped it.

"Why did you do that?" Naru breathed. "Now you're trapped here too."

"I would _never_ abandon my brother. Death was only able to separate us for so long. It won't happen again."

Naru nodded. "I just wish it wasn't like this."

* * *

><p>"This is insane!" Ayako exclaimed, glancing behind them as they ran.<p>

"We need to find Naru and the others," Takigawa called back to her. The constant carnival music and the singing of demons at work nearly drowned out their conversation. As if they weren't having enough trouble communicating as they were running. Eventually, they ran out of breath and had to stop. They ducked in a gap between carnival tents, making sure nobody saw them.

"Do you even know where they are?" Ayako asked.

"You saw Naru fall; he's probably here too."

"Who builds a carnival like this?"

"Didn't you hear what Naru said to that old lady? He said something about Belphegor."

"Who's Belphegor?"

"Don't you know anything?"

"Shut up, you stupid monk! If we weren't running for our lives, I'd have hit you by now!"

"Belphegor is the demon prince of vanity and sloth. He's like one of Hell's best."

"You mean like the seven deadly sins?"

"Exactly. But that's the extent of my knowledge about the subject."

A demon rushed passed. It looked like Jack, but both Ayako and Takigawa knew by now that that wasn't the case. It seemed like Jack was one of many. An entire demon species. Now that was a new one. Although neither of them were ready to test out whether or not any others were as friendly as Jack.

"How are you feeling?" Takigawa asked, seeing that Ayako had now caught her breath.

"I'm fine. We should be on our way."

The two of them began to creep out from in between the carnival tents, only to be stopped by the snout of one of the lizard creatures. It looked pretty much identical to Jack, except that it lacked Jack's one blue eye. Ayako raised her hand to begin the nine cuts, but Takigawa grabbed her wrist, stopping her. She turned to him, and he pointed upward. There, balancing in between the two tent roofs was another demon. Several more began to take notice and come over to them.

"Now what?" Ayako hissed.

"Now we're screwed," Takigawa replied.

And then, like a godsend, the high-pitched voice they all knew and loved sounded above the chorus of demonic singing. "Ayako! Monk!"

"Mai!" Ayako cried.

From behind the growing crowd of demons, Jack leaped up, sailing over their heads. He landed right where the closest demon was, causing it to back away in surprise. Mai reached out and grabbed Ayako's hand, while Lin took Takigawa's. Before they were even fully onboard, Jack jumped into the air again. He landed on a tent roof and continued to leap between them, leaving the other creatures confused and in the dust.

Jack eventually came to the wall of the carnival and took a leap. They sailed right over it, landing back in the unrelenting darkness. However, Jack did not land gracefully, as Ayako, in her fear of heights, grabbed onto Jack's forelimb, off balancing him. His awkward land sent all five of them sprawling over the invisible ground. Once they got their bearings, Mai got up and ran over to Ayako and Takigawa. She flung her arms around them.

"Ayako, Monk, you're all right," she said, tears of relief streaming down her face. "You are all right, right?"

"A little worse for wear and horribly confused," Ayako replied.

"What happened to you two?" Takigawa asked, observing Mai's injuries.

Mai shrugged. "We fell in a cave, got caved in, got tossed around, got rescued, found you, and got tossed around some more," Mai replied with an edge of snark in her tone.

"Wait, what?" Ayako interjected.

"Hold on, where's Lin?"

There was a pause. "Over there!" Mai said, pointing. There he was, still lying on the ground where he had been flung– still looking like a train had hit him. The other four moved worriedly over to him, crowding around him.

"We can't stay here," Ayako said.

"And how do you suggest we get out of here?" Takigawa countered.

"I don't know, but Lin can't take much more of this."

Lin began to stir. "I'm fine," he said, rising to his hands and knees.

Takigawa snorted. "If you consider this 'fine', I'd hate to see what you think 'not fine' is."

"Where's Naru?"

"We lost him after we fell from… wherever it was we fell from," Ayako replied.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You weren't there. But that's what happened. After Jack started attacking that crazy cult, the ground under us broke and we fell. Next thing we knew, we were in that weird carnival."

"I'll bet anything he's still in there," Takigawa continued.

"We have to go find him," Mai said.

"We can't. Not all of us," Ayako said, now the one holding Lin in an upright sitting position.

In response to that, Lin removed himself from her grasp. "I'll be damned if I abandon Naru."

"In your condition, you'd be more of a hindrance than a help," Ayako countered. "I can stay behind while Takigawa and Mai–"

"No way," Takigawa interrupted instantly. "We are not splitting up again. If I had to guess, I'd say that's just what they want us to do. Together we're strong. But divided we're weak."

"But we can't just leave Naru," Mai pressed. She stared her friends in the eyes, all three of them holding a steady resolve. After half a minute of this, Mai let her eyes close. "Fine. You three stay here. Me and Jack are going to find Naru." And before anyone could react, she had mounted the creature.

"Mai, wait!" Takigawa hollered, but it was too late. Jack had already scaled over the wall and was long out of sight.

"What are you waiting for?" Lin asked with a cough. "Go after her. Don't worry about me."

"We're not leaving you."

"I don't care about myself! Mai is the one that needs protection!"

"So we're just supposed to leave you here to die? I'm sorry, but that's not an option! We were worried sick about you this past week, and we're not about to let you go that easily!"

"Besides, it's not really like we could get back inside," Ayako interjected, motioning to the giant carnival wall. There was no way in hell that they could scale that thing without an aid of some kind–which none of them had.

With a grunt, Lin shifted and looked around. "There's got to be a way in somehow."

"That's not the point," Takigawa snapped. "We are not abandoning you and that is final!"

"Mai has Jack, remember?" Ayako said in a much calmer voice. "Jack can protect her."

Lin shook his head. "Jack's strength is equal to all of those other creatures in there. If they gang up on him, he'll lose easily. That's why you need to go after them. Even out the playing field."

To say that that revelation unnerved Ayako and Takigawa was an understatement. They had overestimated Jack's strength and capability. Lin, sensing their worry, pressed on harder. "So leave me here, go after Mai, find Naru, and bring them back here safely." Before they could counter him, he continued, "Don't worry about me. I've still got one of my shiki. And if they wanted us dead, they would have followed us over the wall. It's relatively safer here."

Panic rising, they could not fight Lin's logic anymore. They let him down to the floor gently and then ran off, searching for the way back into the demonic carnival.

Once Lin was alone, there was only one thing that came to his mind. "_Where the hell are Take and Rokku?_"

* * *

><p>"<em>Goddammit, Take! This is all your fault, and you know it!<em>" Rokku snarled at the blue dragon. All Take did was turn her head away from the brash earth spirit. "_The silent treatment will only get you so damn far!_ _If you hadn't been trying to talk to that creature, this never would have happened!_"

"_What, if I had just let you rush in there and let it kick your tail?_" Take retorted. "_Yeah, sure, that outcome would have been a whole lot better._"

Rokku let out a growl. "_Are all you water nymphs like this?_"

"_Like what?_"

"_Weak and pathetic?_"

"_At least I'm not some ugly troll!_"

"_I am a tengu. Get your facts straight._"

"_And what kind of tengu gets caught and enslaved by a human?_ _A pretty weak and pathetic one if you ask me. So if anyone's weak and pathetic, it's you._"

"_Oh yeah? And what exactly have your strategies done for us in this past day and a half?_"

"_It's not my fault! Every building looks the same!_ _I can't sense a damn thing!_"

"_And that's my fault?_"

"_I have no idea why I still can't function properly._ _The effects of that fire should have worn off by now–especially since I'm a _water_ nymph._"

And then it hit Rokku. "_That wasn't a natural fire._"

"_What do you mean?_"

"_That creature started it, right?_"

"_No thanks to your head-butting it into the boss' computer._"

"_Computers don't just explode, Take! Not even if you smash them to pieces!_"

"_So what? You're saying that the boss put an incense bomb in his own computer before he was kidnapped a week ago?_"

"_No, but someone else probably did. Remember, the rest of the group hasn't been to the office building in days. Plenty of time for sabotage._"

"_Ugh! There's too much going on!_" Take groaned, putting her head in her claws. "_I just want to find the boss and let this all be over with!_"

Rokku suddenly stopped. "_Hold on._" Take sensed him stop, and she flew back over to him. "_Do you smell that?_"

"_I still can't sense anything._"

"_Then follow me._" To emphasize it, Rokku grabbed Take's wrist and pulled her downward to a particular building in the sea of the city.

* * *

><p>Madoka was right in the middle of criticizing the hell out of the Twilight Saga when a wind blew on one of her candles. She shot up to her feet immediately, preparing to become an anchor when she realized that the wind came from outside the circle.<p>

"Who's there?" she demanded. Her eyes snapped over to her phone, now turned on. But it was outside the circle. Quickly putting up a barrier around herself, she stepped out of the circle and over to her phone. There was a text message on it.

"Madoka, it's us," the text read.

"Who?" she repeated.

The phone began typing. "Take and Rokku."

Lin's shiki? She immediately let down her barrier, and the shiki immediately latched onto her. "What are you two doing here? Did Lin send you?"

Something whispered softly into her ear. "_Madoka, there was a fire at the office building, and now we can't see properly._"

"Just a minute." The strawberry haired woman grabbed up some of the leftover incense lighters and lit one. She passed it by her shoulders where the spirits' noses were. As she did this, she felt the spirits calm down immensely. "Better?" she asked.

"_Much._"

"_I can see again!_" Take exclaimed, flying around in a circle above Madoka's head. "_Now all we need to do is find the boss!_"

Madoka stopped. The shiki looked down at her.

"_What?_" Rokku asked.

"He's not in this world anymore."

"_WHAT?_" they both demanded.

"No, not dead–I mean he's not in this realm. Like he's in another dimension. Or something." She then motioned to the mirror that was inside the circle. "I'm here ready to act as an anchor point if they need me. Which reminds me–I should probably be doing that."

"_Can you send us through the mirror to get us there?_"

Madoka solemnly shook her head. "I'm afraid it's a one-way trip. Besides, I can't risk breaking the circle to let you in."

"_Then how do we get to the boss?_"

"Go to Aokigahara–they're on their way to a cave by the base of Mt. Fuji. I'm pretty sure Omasu Yasuhara has stayed behind just where the road ends. I can call him and let you know that you're coming."

"_But he's not a spiritualist. He won't be able to talk to us, and we can't talk to him._"

"I'll handle that. All you have to do is go there."

To that, both spirits bowed their heads, although Madoka couldn't really see it. "_Thank you, Madoka. We are in your debt._"

Madoka grinned. "I'll take you up on that. Someday."

"_Just don't batter us too much,_" Take said with a chuckle. And with that, the two of them shot off towards Aokigahara. And as Madoka promised, she had spoken with Yasu. When the shiki got to the SPR van, there was a message written on the dashboard. It read, "They went off in that direction. That's all I know. Sorry." There was also an arrow pointing in the direction they went. Take possessed Yasu for a moment, just to write "Thank You" over the entire message. She then removed herself from him and the two shiki flew off into the distance, hoping and praying that they weren't too late.

* * *

><p>Jack was nimble. Jack was quick. But Mai was quicker.<p>

"There!" she exclaimed, pointing. Jack stopped. There, in the entryway of the house of mirrors, stood Naru and Gene. Something seemed to have them both depressed. Mai slid off of Jack's back and ran towards them.

Naru noticed her first. "Mai, don't!"

Jack realized instantly what that meant. He roared his warning. But they were too slow. Mai had grabbed hold of Naru and hugged him. Naru immediately grabbed her wrist and shoved her away. She landed with a thud on the ground.

"What the hell, Naru?" Mai shouted, springing to her feet. She stopped when she saw Naru's expression. He seemed to be a mix between desperation and despair.

Gene was the one to put his face in his hands. "Oh Mai," he said. Then he snapped his head out of his hands and thundered, "Why did you have to go and do that?"

"What, what did I do?" Mai asked, panic rising. A few children dashed past, laughing and hollering. That only served to unnerve her more.

"You hugged him. You took from the carnival," Gene said. Mai's eyes widened as he looked at Naru, slowly putting the pieces together in her brain. Naru hung his head in defeat. Gene continued. "You're trapped here now. And it's only a matter of time before the harvest begins."

* * *

><p>I couldn't have Jack be one of the bad guys. I just don't have it in me.<br>Bonus points if you know the song I used in the story!


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry about the hiatus. Writers' block is a bitch.

* * *

><p><strong>.o0o.<strong>

Mai took a step forward, staring intently at Naru and Gene. "What harvest?" she asked, voice wavering.

"Look around you," Gene said, focusing his gaze on a point beyond Mai's shoulders. Mai turned around. There was Jack, staring at her with one blue and one yellow eye. She was about to ask Gene what he meant when more and more of the Jack-like creatures appeared. Jack faced them, taking a defensive stance, but the creatures weren't responding. They had a sense of calm that made Mai's spine run with chills. Then one of them licked its lips. It licked them as if it were savoring a delicious taste–or an appetite was being whetted.

"No," Mai said, turning back to Gene and Naru. "No, they're not. It can't be."

"Why are you denying it?" Naru asked. "Anything could happen to us here. The odds of us getting away–"

"But I mean… is it really that simple? We're just dinner for demons?"

Naru leaned against the tent. "Well, when you put it that way…"

Their depressing realization was interrupted by a shrill cry of, "Rin! Pyou! Tou! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!" Everyone (other demons included) turned around towards the source of the noise. Mai would've recognized that voice anywhere.

"Ayako! Monk!" she cried. The demons charged towards them, weapons bared. Jack took a flying leap, intent on defending the redhead and the monk, but he was too far behind. Mai's eyes widened in horror. He wasn't going to make it. Ayako and Monk weren't going to make it. She raised two fingers in defiance, ready to fire off the nine cuts. _Not like this. It's not going to end like this!_

She never got to say a word. Instead, a scream sounded, but it belonged to neither Ayako nor Takigawa. It belonged to one of the creatures. It was the creature closest to them, to be exact. Jack had skidded to a halt, antennae erected in surprise. Out of seemingly nowhere extended a hand holding a metal rod. The end was red hot and smelled of perfume. It was inserted into the creature's right spiracle.

* * *

><p>Lin lay motionless on his side. He wondered if he really did look as bad as he felt. Probably. But then again, he had never seen in person what someone looked like after going through all he had gone through. Wu was putting almost all of his remaining energy into regulating his master's body temperature, although his exhaustion was clear. Lin, feeling this, put a hand over Wu's head and stroked him, like a cat. "<em>Rest,<em>" he said.

"_But master…_"

"_Conserve your energy. We may need it later._"

Wu complied and put his chin down over the side of Lin's face. Lin took comfort in the feeling of the tiny dragon's body breathing on a steady beat. He tensed when Wu rose up, hackles rising. "_We have company, master._"

Lin didn't have the energy to move, but he could listen. He heard footsteps approaching. A lot of them.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"Just us."

Lin tensed. He knew that voice…

"_Rejected. Every single one of them rejected!" said one._

"_You mustn't lose heart," the other replied. "He will surely accept one of these two."_

It was _them._ He began to try and get up, but he was unable to.

"Don't push yourself," said one of the men behind him, advancing towards him.

"Stay away!" Lin hissed.

"We're not going to hurt you. We're more or less in the same predicament as you are. The fact that you're out here means you haven't fallen prey to the carnival."

Lin paused, contemplating this before giving up. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"That's how Belphegor works," said another one of them. "He lures children in their sleep to this demonic carnival. They have their fun, but in doing so, they bind themselves to the carnival. Unwittingly, of course. And then, just before the night is over, Belphegor devours their souls."

Lin grunted. "And here I was hoping for something a little less anticlimactic."

One of the other group members, a woman, let out a scoff. "Are all you SPR people like this?"

"Take a wild guess." Lin let out a breath before continuing. "And what happens to the bodies of the children? Do they become those creatures?"

The first man was the one to respond. "No. The raisins eat their bodies."

"… Is that slang for those creatures?"

The man shrugged, but Lin couldn't see it. "We don't know. They just have skin like raisins, so that's what we call 'em. They're basically slaves to Belphegor."

Lin once again paused. That didn't make sense. If they were slaves to a demon prince, then that didn't explain Jack's behavior at all. Unless they were enslaved via codes of punishment rather than mind control. Ugh. All of this thinking was starting to hurt. "What else do you know? Tell me."

The man shook his head. "We told you all we know about these guys."

"Why did you involve _us_, though?"

"Jaquikik directed us to you. We deduced that you had something to do with all of this."

"All of what?" Lin shouted, only to end up coughing. The man waited for him to finish.

"Belphegor contacted our shaman, telling us he wanted Hell's demon Jaquikik returned to him, and that he would reward us greatly."

"Why you?"

"I don't know! Don't you ever shut up?"

"You've been downright torturing the life out of us for the past few weeks. I think we deserve some restitution."

In response to that, the woman stepped forward and took her friend's place. "We don't know how Belphegor works. Perhaps it was just our proximity to Jaquikik's location."

Lin sighed. "So are you still in it for the reward?"

The woman looked behind her at the other cult members. "Right now, we're just a splinter group. We couldn't find everyone else. They're probably inside the carnival."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"We follow our shaman. What she says goes, okay? She just hasn't said anything to us within the past half hour for understandable reasons." The other cult members behind her nodded in agreement.

"You're all fools."

The cult members snapped their attention down to Lin. "What did you just say?" one of the growled, advancing aggressively. The woman stopped him from doing any more damage to the half-conscious man on the ground.

Lin continued. "You really thought Belphegor would honor any kind of deal you had?"

"Yes, well unlike you people, we know demons to be–if anything–beings of honor."

"Excuse me? Exactly what planet do you live on? You cannot trust a demon without binding it first. It's common sense."

"And you have the gall to say that in front of yours?" In response to that, Lin shifted his attention towards Wu and saw that Wu was staring back at him, uncertain.

"_Can we discuss this later?_" Lin pleaded. Wu only bowed his head. Lin then turned his attention back to the others. "So what's your plan? I assume you have one?"

"We're going to need everyone that's willing to fight Belphegor," the man said. "We'll need the rest of our group, and the rest of yours."

"You're actually planning to take on a demon prince?"

"Not to win. Only to escape. Which means we'll need you, too. So up and Adam, engineer." At that, the others took Lin under the arms and hoisted him up, supporting his weight as they went to find the carnival's entrance. Lin only hoped that they would run into the rest of the SPR, and then he could get away from these demon worshipers.

* * *

><p>One firebrand in the spiracle was all they needed to do to get the creatures to run off. Mai, Naru, and Gene ran forward to see Ayako, Takigawa, and half of the group that brought them here in the first place. Jack bared his teeth and flexed his blades.<p>

"You!" Mai exclaimed, pointing.

"Shut up and listen to us," one of the men said before anyone else could speak.

"Absolutely not," Naru growled. "We have no reason to listen to you."

"How about all-out-war? Does that sound like reason enough?"

"What are you talking about?" Takigawa asked, crossing his arms.

"We don't have much time before they come back, and we need to be ready to fight them."

"Yeah? And what happened to that leader of yours? Where is she, hmm?" Gene added.

"They tore her to shreds. Ate her right up. So are you in or not?"

"No. Unlike you, we actually _do_ have a backup plan," Mai said. "We've got an anchor in the living world–" She slapped her hand over her mouth when she saw their eyes glimmer with interest, although they quickly made a feeble attempt to hide it.

"Nice going, Mai," Naru muttered. Mai had nothing to say to that.

"Hey!" came a voice. Everyone looked around, but they couldn't find the source. The voice called out again. "Hey! Over here!" Several of the people in purple turned around and looked in between a few tents. Naru, Mai, and Gene weren't in the right place to see what they saw, but their guess was as good as anyone else's.

The man in the front pushed through his end of the crowd. "The SPR has an anchor set up."

"Good, we can use that. Come on, let's go. We have a anchor to hijack."

"What about the load?"

"Leave him here." With that, the group turned around and began to walk off. Naru sprung into action and ran after them, only to be slammed hard in the head with a brand. His hair would have certainly caught fire, had they not been in this strange, in-between dimension.

Mai ran to Naru's side, accompanied by Gene, Ayako, and Takigawa. Mai and Gene helped him into a sitting position. Naru glared right at the young brunette.

Mai shifted backwards slightly. "I am so sorry," she said. "I wasn't thinking!"

"Damn right you weren't," Naru hissed. Mai winced.

"Noll," Gene snapped, but he went ignored.

"Madoka doesn't know about those men. If they startle her while the portal is open and she is anchoring, she could very easily lose focus and destroy the portal. We'd have to wait for her to set it up all over again, and we just don't have that kind of time."

Jack in the background made some chuffing noises. The five SPR members turned around to face the creature, who had his muzzle down to the level of a black object. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was a person lying face down. Lin. They must have found him and dragged him back here.

"We just can't catch a break, can we?" Ayako said with a sigh.

Naru's eyes widened. "Lin!" he exclaimed while kneeling next to him. Gene too looked worried. Then Mai remembered. Naru hadn't seen them since they fell into that cave. He didn't know what had occurred in between then and now.

"The cave collapsed on us and then we were attacked by one of these other creatures," Mai explained.

Naru showed no outward signs that he had heard her, but everyone knew he had. Mai moved her hand to take Lin's pulse, but Naru grabbed her wrist quickly. "Are you really that stupid? No touching _anyone_ or _anything._"

Ayako and Takigawa exchanged glances. "What are you talking about?" the redhead asked.

Naru let out a sigh. "I took from the carnival earlier. I grabbed a piece of the mirror. Now the carnival owns me. If you touch us, that counts as taking from the carnival, and you will be trapped here too."

"But only if _we_ touch _you_?" Monk said.

Gene took the opportunity to step in. "Yes. Technically, if, say, something falls on you, you can't really control that, so it doesn't count. But if you intentionally interact with something–if you make a move to grasp or grab–then that counts, which is why we should avoid contact, so we can avoid unintentional 'claiming' actions."

That's when it hit the monk. "We touched a tent earlier."

Gene's eyes sharpened. "Did you grasp it?"

"No, we just brushed up against it."

The spirit nodded. "Then you're fine. Brushing against things are not claiming actions. Belphegor classifies grasping, grabbing, biting, kissing, intercourse, and hugging as claiming."

"But…" Ayako paused to contemplate. "You said we shouldn't touch you. Does that mean…?"

Gene ran a hand through his hair. "We were forced into a situation that required us to take from the carnival."

"Mirror shards make good weapons when cornered against one of those creatures," Naru added.

Ayako and Takigawa turned to Mai for her explanation.

"I hugged Naru." If this had been any other situation, then her cheeks would have gone tulip pink. And if this had been any other situation, Ayako and Takigawa would have jumped on the opportunity to tease the life out of her. But for all they knew, their lives were already sealed–which begged the question.

"Does that mean you can't use the anchor?" Ayako asked.

Gene nodded gravely.

"What I want to know is how you know all of this stuff," Takigawa said. Gene closed his eyes before turning to face Jack. There were several exchanges between the creature and the SPR members.

"When did he tell you this stuff?"

Once again Gene shook his head.

Naru grabbed his brother's shoulder and turned him around, staring him dead in the eyes. "What aren't you telling us?" He began to tighten his focus and attempt to enter Gene's headspace. Gene gave a firm shove, locking his twin out of his mind. In response to his question, though, Gene turned his head to face Mai and then Jack. When Naru looked up at Jack, he saw that the creature was fixated on Gene with a similar warning glare, but there was something different about his from Naru's.

Gene closed his eyes, solemnly. "A promise is a promise. Too bad it was all for naught."

Before he had time to explain further, there was an explosion of pastel colors from behind the wall.

"The portal!" Naru exclaimed, breaking into a run.

"Naru, wait!" Takigawa shouted after him. He turned quickly to Jack. "Take Lin!" he commanded before running after the narcissist. Ayako, Mai, and Gene followed the monk and the creature. They reached one of the large carnival gates in no time. Naru didn't make it one millimeter through it. He was knocked violently back by a barrier, which materialized for the split second that he collided with it.

"Naru!" Mai exclaimed, running up to him.

"Stop them!" Naru yelled, pointing towards the source of the light. There was a bunch of people in purple surrounding a light about eight feet tall, shaped kind of like a tall oval. Takigawa and Ayako ran out of the gate and towards the group, but an explosion of light threw them back (as well as most of the people in purple). They were all blinded for a minute or so, but as the light cleared, they came to a dreaded realization. However, as the fact that the portal had closed sunk in, another realization dawned on them. Several of the people in purple were gone. They were there before, but now they were gone.

Naru's eyes were wider than anyone had ever seen them before. He ran right up to the barrier and pounded on it, qi beginning to writhe off of his body like an enraged beast. It exploded off of him as he cried out to whatever heaven he allowed himself to believe in.

"MADOKA!"

* * *

><p>Shards of mirror laid everywhere. Papers were flying around in a quickly quelling frenzy. There was no corner of the room that had not felt the immense surge of power. There were also several bodies littered about the floor. A seldom few were strewn about the farther reaches of the room, but the majority were close by whatever remnants of the white circle remained. As soon as the papers all settled down, everything became silent. It was so silent that one would have been able to hear the breath of a woman with strawberry hair, lying underneath shards of mirror on the floor. However, if you were to walk into that room right then and there, you wouldn't even hear that.<p>

* * *

><p>The pillar of electrifying light acted like a beacon. Everyone, everywhere in the in-between saw it. Mai watched as several curious lights approached, only to be easily brushed away by a flick of the hand (or tail, in Jack's case). But they weren't the only things attracted. Several of the raisin creatures were drawing in close. They too gave off an air of curiosity, but that ceased as soon as two tall, grotesque figures made their ways to the scene.<p>

Naru recognized one of them instantly–the one with the light green skin. There was another one with purple-ish skin, dressed the same way, but with a purple motif instead of green. However, Naru was too enraged to think clearly; his qi kept the momentum of anger going, and he prepared to attack again.

"Naru, calm down, please!" Mai cried.

Gene strode forward and grabbed Naru's arm, not stopping him, but anchoring him. Naru fired off a shot of qi. Strands of what looked like electric residue flowed from Naru's body into Gene's. The shot of qi charged wildly towards the twin demons. Wild though it was, it was slow moving; the twins dodged it easily.

"You'll have to do better than that, human," the green demon said.

Naru fired once more, only for the purple figure to grab the ball of qi and throw it off to the side where it exploded out of harm's way. The purple demon grinned a devilish grin.

"You really think you can take on a demon prince?" the green one asked.

Naru's eyes widened, and his aura faded. He staggered slightly before Gene grabbed and steadied him. He looked up at the two. "Belphegor?"

"That's me," both demons replied in perfect unison. Mai's hair stood on end at their eerie synchronizing.

Naru composed himself once more. "Of course I can take you." He fired up his qi once again. The twin demons smiled and tensed their muscles, prepared for the boy to do his worst. A rumbling was heard in the distance. Jack turned his head towards the sound. Naru fired. Both demons grabbed the energy shot. With all of their might, they flung it right back at the SPR.

"Everyone, get away!" Gene exclaimed, jumping in front of Naru, hands stretched out in front of himself. Jack's head snapped back towards the action. Mai, Naru, Takigawa, and Ayako began to run. The ball of energy slammed full force into Gene's outstretched hands. Gene was pushed backwards, shoes scoring the ground, but he stayed strong. With one final burst of energy, the ball of qi dissipated into thin air. Gene was left holding his stance. From that one shot, he was left completely exhausted, and vulnerable to attack. Like a leaf in the wind, he began to sink to the ground, but a swipe from the green twin's long arm had him flying off to the side.

"Gene!" Naru shouted, running back towards his brother. Several raisins jumped in his way, snarling at him. Mai, Ayako, and Takigawa ran to back him up, but even more of those creatures jumped in their way. Mai and Ayako raised their fingers to fight, and Takigawa readied his mantra. However, before anyone could do anything, a strange noise interrupted them.

It was Jack. His mouth was moving and sounds were coming out, but they were hardly understandable. Everyone turned to him, trying to figure out what he was saying.

"Parsley?" Mai asked. "Does he want a salad or something?"

"He's a carnivore, Mai," Takigawa said with a deadpan.

"Part way?" Ayako muttered. "Part way to what?"

"Parting ways?" Mai mused.

They only got a clue when the beast jumped in between Naru, Gene, and Belphegor, arms crossed like a capital T. "Pahway! Pahway!" he grunted.

Lin caught on first. "Parley!" he exclaimed. At that word, everything stopped. The twin demons, even without faces, seemed intrigued. At their hand signals, the raisins backed off, giving the SPR some breathing room. From behind the gate peeked what remained of the purple cult. At this point, the silence was deafening.

Mai turned to Ayako and Takigawa. "Where are all of the children?" she asked.

"Waiting for the harvest, I would assume," Ayako said.

"So we can still save them?"

"I don't know."

Naru took the foreground, stepping towards Belphegor. Jack immediately put a foreleg in front of him, stopping him. Naru glared at Jack, but Jack glared back. He dumped Lin off of his back and put his body in front of Naru, effectively blocking him from Belphegor's easy access. Mai, Ayako, and Takigawa moved in closer behind Naru, Gene, and Lin. Jack glared holes at Belphegor, but the twin demons seemed unfazed. One of them reached inside its blazer and pulled out a long, fleshy instrument. In the background, Mai covered her mouth, thoroughly grossed out. Jack opened his mouth, and the demon placed the fleshy object inside. Then the object began to move around. Jack smacked his lips a few times before Belphegor cut in again.

"So Jaquikik, what will you give up this time to buy your precious human thing back?" they asked in unison.

Jack narrowed his eyes before opening his mouth and speaking. "Wath it really tho hard to keep thith thing in a thar of water while you were at it?" he asked, still opening and closing his jaw, discomfort evident.

"Sorry, Jaquikik. I hadn't thought you would ever be using it again. After all, you _did_ give it to us. And we _will_ be taking it back after we're done here."

Jack just growled.

"So back to business. What will you give us to buy three and a half human things from us?"

Gene scowled at only being half a person, but nobody noticed.

"Well, what do you want?" Jaquikik replied.

Belphegor put his hands to his chins. "Now that you mention it, there isn't really anything else I want from you. I took your tongue, and it was fun watching you suck up to those mortals like some captive animal. Not that you could do anything else."

Jack hissed. "So what will you accept in exchange for their release?"

"Hold on a minute," Naru interrupted.

Jack turned his head into Naru's space, but Naru did not back away. "Stay out of this," the demon said.

"We've been in this for the past two weeks! If anyone has a right to butt into this, it's us." To that, Jack stayed silent. Naru stepped around Jack's body and stared straight at Belphegor. "What do you mean by three and a half people?"

The demons frowned. "What ever do you mean?"

"So far, Gene, Mai, and I are the only SPR members belonging to your carnival right now. So, assuming that either Gene or Mai counts as half a person–"

"Hey!"

"Then who is this third person?"

At this deduction, the demons' frowns turned into smiles. They began to clap slowly. It was a no-brainer that now the SPR was feeling _quite _unnerved by this. "Funny you should forget about him so quickly, human."

Mai blinked. "Wait, who…"

The green demon snapped his fingers. Out of a tent in the distance came a long object. Nobody could see it until it made its way to the main path where it was in plain sight. As the object drew closer, its shape became recognizable as a large cross. And it looked like someone was hanging from it. It clicked immediately.

"John!" Mai exclaimed.

As the raisins carrying the cross came up to the scene, Belphegor grabbed the large object and slammed it into the ground so that it was standing upright. The twin demons kept their hands resting on the crossbar as if to say, "Yeah, we're touching a cross, and yeah, it's not burning us. What are you gonna do about it?" This was a message that everyone received. But even more so, they saw just how terrible John's condition was.

"Here is your third person," the green demon said.

"He wasn't a part of the deal, Bel," Jaquikik growled.

"Yes he was," the green demon, Bel, said. "He always was."

"No, he didn't take from you; you took him. You took him 'illegally'. So it is your responsibility to release him and pay for the damages."

"By giving up our dinner?" Bel demanded.

"Three and half morsels of your dinner. You can sacrifice them."

The demon in purple slammed his hand down on the crossbar. "If we answered to every pleading and beckoning being we came across, we would starve."

"Gor, be reasonable," Jack said. "You took that one wrongly. Wrongs must be punished."

"We will not be cheated. We will not be manipulated," the purple, Gor, said.

Then Bel joined in, now the two of them speaking in sync. "They belong to me! They all belong to me! Why couldn't you have been satisfied with just finding your own path? Why did you have to drag us into your soul-searching?"

"Because she is a witness."

As Jack and Belphegor bantered back and forth, the SPR meanwhile was becoming more and more confused. By now they understood that the green demon's name was Bel, the purple one was Gor, and together they were Belphegor, but as soon as this whole 'witness' and 'illegality' thing came into play, they were once again completely lost. And why was Jaquikik being so… chummy… with the guy? If Belphegor meant what he said, then he would take Jaquikik's tongue after the parley was over, and therefore, Jack would hardly be in a position to explain.

"You're _still_ trying to build a case against me?" Belphegor asked incredulously. "You won't win. The Siblings of Justice will surely side with me."

"Attack on high-level, sentient beings counts as an act of war. Either you wage formal war, or you are nothing more than a terrorist."

"Your argument is weak. Would you punish a whale for eating krill?"

"Is Jaquikik some kind of lawyer or something?" Mai asked to Ayako, who shrugged.

"He sure sounds like it."

"Well, they say all lawyers are demons, but I've never actually heard of a demon that's a lawyer," Takigawa said, an amused smirk on his face.

"Which would make his tongue a perfect target," Gene interjected. The three turned to him. Before he could say any more, a roaring screech came from the three demons.

"There is nothing you can give me! This parley is _over!_" Belphegor thundered, bringing two claws down to strike at Jack. Jack dodged aside quickly, but not quick enough. The claw caught him in his jaw, sending him flying into a nearby tent. Belphegor roared in his direction.

The other raisins snapped into action. They fell upon the members of the SPR like rats to a garbage can. The SPR tried to fight them off, but they gave them no breathing room at all. They had only their fists, which did practically nothing against these savages. Lin's three shiki were fighting with all of their strength, but they were still overwhelmed.

"_What do we do?_" Kai cried.

"_There are too many!_" Long shouted over the fray.

"_Keep fighting!"_ Wu commanded. "_We don't stop until we drop!_"

"_Oh, if only Take and Rokku were here!_" Kai was cut short as a raisin's jaws enveloped his tiny dragon form. He only had time to scream before sharp fangs sunk into his spirit matter. However, that last part never came. The demon had been thrown backwards. Out of the corner of his eye, Kai saw a flash of blue. Take. "_Well what do you know? Tempting fate actually _does_ work._"

"_Not just me,_" Take said. "_Rokku's here, too._" She motioned with her claw. There, assisting Wu with Mai, Ayako, and Takigawa, was the pale-colored tengu. A shrill whistle pierced the air. Mai turned towards the source of the sound. Lin was glowing. It looked just like… qi. Of course. Lin taught Naru. Of course he could use qi. But… did he have an anchor?

"_Come on!_" Wu exclaimed, summoning the other four shiki to him. They hovered in a circle above the mess of demons before charging up what seemed to be some kind of energy cannon. Lin let loose something akin to a war cry as the shiki let loose their cannon. Everything and everyone in range was blown back ten feet, giving the SPR some breathing room. Just as Lin was about to collapse from the exertion, a hand grabbed out, steadying him. Lin looked up. The person who was holding him looked just like him. Standing by the stranger's coat was a little boy, baring his teeth and clenching his fists at a few opposing raisins.

Kenji's father waved his free arm towards the gate. Lin followed his line of sight to see a large, white line approaching. He squinted before realizing just what this was. It was a line of animal spirits. On the back of a lioness rode what looked like a woman in a blue kimono. Lin looked up at Kenji's father, incredulously.

Kenji's father smiled. "The cavalry has arrived."


End file.
